ILIBRARY OF CONGRESS J 



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Z19 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



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T H F. 

BOTTOM OF THE SEA 





Ruins of the Temple of Hercules at Gibraltar. 



T H K 



BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



B Y L. S C) N R E L. 



TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY 

ELIHU RICH, 

fRANSLATOK OF CAZIN's POPULAR TREATISE ON "THE PHENOMENA ANL 

UAWS OK heat;" LATE EDITOR OF "THE PEOPLE'S MAGAZINE," 

ETC., ETC. 



NEW YORK: 

SORIBNER, Armstrong' & co., 

SUCCESSORS TO 

CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., 

C54 BROADWAY. 
1872. 




Illustrated Jibrary of Wonders. 



PUBLISHED BY 



JtHrasrs. (fferto ^tr'Amx Sc <^o., 



C54 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
Each one volume 12mo. Price per volume, $1.60 



Titles of Books. 

Thunder and LianxNiNa, . 
Wonders of Oi'tics, 
Wonders of IIeat, 
Intelligence of Animals, 
Great Hunts, . 
Egypt 3,300 Years Ago, . 
Wonders op Pompeii, 
The Sun, by A. Guilxemin, 
Sublime in Nature, . 
Wonders of Glass-Making, 
Wonders OP Italian Art, . 
Wonders op the Human Bodt, 
Wonders op Architecture, 
Lighthouses and Lightships, 
Bottom op the Ocean, 
, Wonders op Bodily Strength and 
Wonderful Balloon Ascents, 
Acoustics, 

Wonders of the Heavens, 
The Moon, by A. Guillemin 
Wonders of Sculpture, 
Wonders op Engraving, 
Wonders op Vegetation, 
Wonders op the Invisible "World, 
Celebrated Escapes, 
Water, 
Hydraulics, 
Electricity, 
Subterranean World, 

\V0NDKB8 OF EuROPKAlf AkT, 



Bkill, 



No. of Illustrations. 

39 
70 



&4 
22 
40 
22 
58 
50 
63 
28 
45 
5U 
60 
68 
TO 
30 
114 
48 
60 
61 
32 
45 
9T 
26 
T7 
40 
71 
2T 
11 



* In Press for early Publication. 



The above works sent to any address, post paid, upon receipt of the price by tl 
piibliaheru. 



TEANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



This little book supplies a general and instructive 
outline of a certain number of interesting facts con- 
nected with the sea. It bears the same relation to 
the strictly scientific treatment of the subject as a 
popular lecture on art to instruction in the studio, 
a ramble through a museum to a lecture on science ; 
or a short pleasure-sail on the coast, with here and 
there an opening glimpse of the scenery, and a 
pleasant chat on the wonders of the deep, to an ac- 
curate survey and a formal report on the same sub- 
jects. Occasionally, it may be hoped, the reader will 
find something more in the following chapters on 
" The Bottom of the Sea," than these remarks would 
lead him to suspect ; but its pretensions are not such 
as would justify the kind of criticism which a scien- 
tific treatise like that of Professor Tyndall's book on 
Heat, and many works of less scientific importance, 
are rightly supposed to challenge. 

Our knowledge of the sea is not, indeed, so exact 
as to justify the same high pretensions to accuracy, 



vi T U AN S LAWKS F RE FACE. 

even in a strictly scientific elucidation, of which 
many otlier investigations admit; and yet, as 
Franklin observed in his time, what persevering 
efforts have been made to master the secrets of the 
abyss, and what dangers have been encountered in 
the struggle of man with its gigantic forces! 
Michelet commences his well-known book on the 
subject by remarking that the first iraj>ression which 
man receives from the Ocean is one of dread ; but 
if tliis observation be just, that dread of the vast 
an 1 unknown lias in all ages been converted into a 
source of inspiration, until men of genius have 
rchieved their greatest triumphs where they feared 
the most. Some of these achievements are remarked 
upon in the following pages. But the complete 
record of similar conquc sts would fill a volume, for 
it is always on the shores of the sea, and by means 
of the sea, that men have established their communi- 
ties, and spread their civilisation over the earth. The 
sea, not dreaded but loved, and used as a mighty 
agency, is truly the " Vita Nuova of Nations." 

While touching slightly on this topic, and avoiding 
the dryness of scientific details, this book will be 
found to give a general idea of the configuration of 
the sea-bottom, (5f the action of the sea upon its 
shores, and of some of the more impressive wonders 
of the deep. The reader, hitherto uninitiated intc 



nUXiSLATORS F HE FACE. ix 

tliis branch of study, will iind, in coiu'lusioii, tluit he 
has learned somewhat of th(; gieat law of porpotiial 
motion and change in what he may have previously 
deemed the immoveable crust of the earth. He will 
have learned to regard the mystery of that movement 
with a measure of the same awe that is inspired by a 
study of the distant nebulaB ; and he will have felt how 
es>enticil it is, in studies of this nature, to disembar- 
rass his mind of ideas borrowed from limited views of 
the measurements of time and space : 

God woiketh slowly; ami u tliousaud ycnrs 
He hikes t) lift His hand off .... 



MuswELL Hill, 

January, !87 



iii:iii!ii"!ii':iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif:[r 




CONTENTS. 



SUBMAh'INE OROGRAPHY. 

r.\i:!4 

1. The plummet — Brooke's deep-sea sounding app,;riitu.s . 1 

2. Construction of chaits and sections of the ocean-bottom — 

But little as yet known of this subject — Maury, the 
founder of submarine orographic science ... 8 
S. Analogy between the configuration of continents, and that 

of the bottom of the sea — Equatorial section of the eaith 18 

4. Northern Atlantic Ocean — Chart of Maury . . .27 

5. The Mediterranean and the Black Seas — Chart of Bottger '61 

6. The Baltic— The North Sea— The Straits of Dover— The 

English Channel — The Bay of Biscay . . . 1-57 



VRE WATKR OF THE OCEAN. 

1. Composition of sea-water — Biot's apparatus . . .42 

2. Variations in the saltness of sea-water . . . .47 

3. Variations observed in the gases contained in sea-water . 52 
t. Solid bodies in the sea — Phosphorescence . . .55 
5. Colour of sea-water — To what extent influenced by matters 

held in suspension, by the bottom of the sea, and by the 
agitation of ihe water . . . . . .(',.; 

G. IMeasure of temperature i.t the bottom of the sea . . (j8 

7. Diminished temperature of the sea in proportion to the 
depth — Irregularities introduced in this law by the in- 
fluence of submarine currents — Temperature at the 
bottom of the ocean constant and uniform — Princi]ial 
causes of submarine currents , , . . .70 



xii CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

8. Cause of waves — Their height — Thickness of the mass of 
water in motion — Ground-swells — " Raz de MareV — 
"Waves of translation — Measure of a wave of translation, 
and of its speed, in the Pacific Ocean — Tides — Resume 74 



DEPOSITS IN COURSE OF FORMATION AT THE BOTTOMS 
OF SEAS. 

1. Universality of the process of sedimentation — General view 

of the mechanism of this phenomenon . . . .80 

2. Action of waves upon the coasts — Destruction of rock- 

bound shores by the sea — Pierced rocks — Silting-up of 
shallow waters by marine alluvium . . . . ^9 

3. Deposits in mid-ocean, and deposits on the coasts — Im- 

portance to geologists of coast-deposits as data for fixing 
the limits of ancient seas — Deposits of the French 
seas ......... 94 

4. Transport and deposit of rocks by floating ice . . . 99 

5. "Water-springs in the earth — ^Funnels or wells of the Jura 

— The Aveii of the South of France — Katavotron — Sink- 
holes — Geysers — Submarine springs — Origin of oolitic 
formations ....:. .102 

SUBMARINE LIFE. 

1. Exuberance of life in the depths of the ocean — Tableau' of 

the tropical seas — Life in the seas of the temperate 
and the frozen zones — Natural illumination of the 
oceanic abysses 1 09 

2. Migration of marine animals — Nests at the bottom of the 

sea — Fisheries 124 

3. Terrible conflicts of marine monsters — Massacre of the weak 

by the strong ... .... 142 

4. Animated forests — Animal stones ..... 161 

5. Sponges . . . . . . . . . 165 

'6. Polypi — Their genernl structure — ^Reproduction of polypi — 

Vegetative life of polypi — The polypier — Two great 
classes of polypi distinguished by the form of the 
polypier — The Tubipora mu.sica 170 



CONTI'JNTS. xiii 

TAOF. 

7. Hydra, type of the hydrozoa or hydra polyps— Extraor- 

dinary properties of the hydra discovered by Trembley — 
Marine hydrozoa . . . . . . .17(5 

8. ActiniaB — Sea-anemones — Sea-nettles . . . .184 

9. Coral — Miraculous virtue attributed to coral by ancient 

tradition— Coral stone — Coral plant — Marsigli discovers 
the fl(jwers of the coral — Observations of M. Lacaze- 
Duthiers 186 

10. Coral chiefly found in the Mediterranean Sea — Various 

species of coral — The coral fishery — Antipathes, com- 
monly called black coral ...... 189 

11. Gorgons of the old writers-T-Tiieir animal nature discovered 

by Peyssonnel, Trembley, and Bernard de Jussieu — The 
fan-gorgon — Its cosmopolitan character . . . 191 

12. The more active submarine constructors — Astroides — Caryo- 

phillia — Madrepora plantaginea — Dendrophyllia — Occu- 
lina, or white coral — Meandrina — Fungia — Porites — 
Milleporae 195 

13. Galley-slaves of the sea — The giants and pigmies of crea- 

tion — The suckers — Legends of monsters — Singing fishes 207 

14 . Algse — The untrodden forests and prairies of the ocean — 

Animal life more abundant than vegetable life — Sea- 
plants less widely distributed than marine animals — 
Influence of light — Collection of seaweed on the coasts 
— Assistance aflbrded by the tide .... 224 

MAN AND HIS WORK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

1. The empire of the seas denied to man — Numerous attempts 

at submarine exploration — Disturbance of present social 
conditions which would ensue from the possibility of 
travelling beneath the surface of the water — The sea the 
best tie between nations ...... 231 

2. Exploration of the bottom of the sea — Diving apparatus — 

Invention of MM. Kouquayrol and Denayrouze — Sub- 
marine electric illumination — Salvage of objects sunk in 
the sea — A chest of gold recovered under peculiar cir- 
cumstances in the port of Marseilles .... 243 

3. Gowan's salvage of Russian vessels in Sebastopol Harbour 255 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PACK 

4. Ships repairt.d without leaving the water, and even while 

under sail . . . . . . . .259 

5. Sensations of the diver — Depth to which it is possible to 

descend . . . . . . . . .261 

6. Extreme difficulty of working below water — Submaiine 

foundations— Ston*^ worked when in position . . 2Gt) 

7. Diving-beJls — Stationary cjmprcssed-air apparatus . . 270 

8. Payernes submarine hydioatat ..... 274 
U. Villeroy's submarine bi at . , . , . . 278 

10. Employment of torper'oes in clearing channels and the 

entrances to ports ....... 280 

U. English mines beneath the ocean ..... 284 



CHANGES IN PROGRESS AT THE BOTTOMS OK SEAS.— 
THEIR UNIVERSALITI^ 

Extent of the movements of the terrestrial crust — Nature 
incessantly at work — The gradual cooling of the earth a 
cause of its present form, owing to the crumpling and 
breaking of its crust ....... 286 

Tlie shore — Its apparent fixity — Traces of the presence of 
the ocean almost univer&al ..... 29o 

Progressive enlargement of the Str;dts of Gibraltar during 
the historic period — Columns of the ancient TemjDle of 
Hercules submerged — Descriptions left by Avienus, 
Pliny, and Pomponius — Mellarla, Carteia, and Belon 
submerged — Otiier examples of cities and islands covered 
by the waters, and of mountains violently separated 
from continents ....... 298 

The quantity of water which covei's the earth is sensibly 
•,onstant — An elevation in one point is balanced by a 
corresponding subsidence in another— Aristotle's opinion 
about the (Ireek traditions of the Deluge — The earth will 
become drver and colder . ..... 304 



SIT[)[)EN ]\IOVEMENTS OK THE bUBMARINE SOIL. 

I. Earthquakes modify the bed of the ocean — Submarine 

volcanoes ........ 308 



(x>yrM\Ts. XV 

TAOB 

2, Greek Arcliipclngi) — Dclos and Rlio;les upheaved from th(! 
bottom of the sea — Siu-ct s^ive additions to the Archi- 
pelago of Santorin ....... 310 

3 'J'lic Azores — Appearance and disnppearance of islan Is sub- 
sequent to earthquakes — The eplieineral island Sabrina . 815 

4. Submarine volcano in the middle of ti.e Atlantic . . 318 

5. Subm irine eruptions near Kamtscli itka— Iceland — Ig litcd 

sea; appearance of an island near Keikiane.ss — Kisn of a 

fiery island from the ocean, near the Aleutian Isl I s . 319 
(). The bottom of the sea feels the counterblow of terrestrial 

volcanic jihenomena ....... 322 

7 Products of submarine volcanoes — How they differ from 

the pro lucts of subaerial volcanoes .... 324 
8. Bottom of the sea brought to light in consequence of the 

eruption of submarine volcanoes . . . 328 

GRADUAL CHANGES OK THE BOTTOM OF THE KEA. 

1. How the gradual change of the sea-bottom can be demon- 

strated — Modifications which the map of Europe would 
sutler by a gradual subsidence of thirty feet in a century — 
Paris submerged — Europe as it would be were the level 
of the sea raised 500 feet — Toulouse and Vienna as sea- 
ports ......... 331 

2. Ancient limits of the Black Sea — Drying-up of the Russian 

steppes ......... 338 

3. Movements of the earth in the northern hemisphere — Sub- 

sidence in the north of Euiope and of America — Elevation 

of the polar regions — Sinking of the coast of Sweden . 340 

4. Elevation of Spitzbergen — Sinking of the western coast, 

and elevation of the eastern coast of Greenland — Gradual 
submersion of the forests of Labrador and of Nova Scotia 
— Eoman constiuctions engulfed in the Low Ccnintries 
— Origin of the Zuyder Zee — Failure of the Dutch sea- 
dams — The valley of the Somme and the coasts of Nor- 
mandy follow the movenK nt of subsidence of the Low 
Countries , ...... 344 

5. Two extensive zones of subsidence iu the southern hemi- 

sphere — They are separated by a zone of elevation — The 

F ji Islands have been sinking diiri g 300.000 years . 347 



xvi CONTENTS. 

ACTION OF RIVERS AND CURRENTS ON THE BOTTOM 
OF THE SEA. 

PAGE 

1. Choking of ports with sand — Deltas, and the action of the 

tide upon them — The formation of deltas may be either 
favoured or retarded by marine currents according to 
ciicumstances — Deltas formed in shallow seas — Eapid 
growth of the delta of the Po due to the clearing of the 
south side of the Alps, and to tlie damming-in of tiie 
shores of the river ....... 851 

2. Egypt, according to Herodotus, a present from the Nile . 357 

3. DL^scription of the delta of the Mississippi — A village at 

anchor — Ships lost in the sand and mud of the river . 360 

4. Eiipid f^rowth of the deltas of the Po and of the Mississippi 

— Delta of the Nile enlarged by seven miles during the 
historic period — The Ehone ..... 36? 

5. Littoral accumulations — Coast-line — Marine lagoons and 

pools —Lagoons moved inland by the effects of the dunes 
in Gascony— Villages buried beneath the dunes near 
St. Pol-de-Le'on in Brittany, and also in Gascony— 
Bordeaux menaced 371 

6. Floating icebergs — Polar winters 37<- 

INFLUENCE OF LIFE ON VARIATIONS IN THE BED 
OF THE OCEAN. 

1. Formation of coral reefs ; limit to their growth — Condi- 

tions favourable to their development .... 380 

2. Life and inanimate nature — Coral insects die in the calm 

of dtep waters — Explanation of the formation of the deep 
reefs of the Pacific Ocean — Coast reefs — Broken reefs — 
Barrier reefs of Australia — How the coral reef becomes 
an island 383 

3. Slowness of the growth of coral reefs — Florida Keys — De- 

struction of coral islands during a tempest in January 
1865— Kegions in which coral reefs are found . . 390 

4. Algaj — Submarine forests and prairies — Floating seaweed 

of the Sargossa seas — Extension of the coasts by the Rhi- 
zophora Mangle . . . . . . . 393 

INSIGNIFICANCE OF MAN COMPARED WITH THE OCEAN 396 



LIST OF ILLUSTEAriONS. 



I'AOK 

Ruins of the Temple of Hercules at Gibraltar Fronihfiece 

1. Man's conquests of Nature ...... vii 

2. Brooke's deep-sea sounding apjjaratus .... 4 

3. Striking the sea-bottom 5 

4. Measuring the depth of the sea by means of a bomb . . 7 

5. Vertical section of the Atlantic from Yucatan (coast of 

Mexico) to Senegal ....... 10 

6. Section of the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to Newfoundland 23 

7. Equatorial section of the earth 25 

8. Chart of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean . . .29 

9. Chart of the respective depths of the Mediterranean, the 

Adriatic, and the Black Seas , . . . .33 

10. De{)th3 of the Adriatic ....... 36 

11. Profile of the ocean-floor from the southernmost point of 

Norway, via the Straits of Dover, to the 10th degree of 
west longitude and the 47th degree of north latitude . 39 

12. Vertical section of the Straits of Dover ... 40 

13. Phosphorescent sea at Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope 57 

14. Incidence of tl:e rays of light on a calm sea . . .66 

15. Incidence of the rays of light on the waves of tlie sea . 67 

16. Rising of the sea at Acapulco . . . . .79 
J 7. Waves breaking against a rock-bound coast . . 90 

18. Rocks worn througli by the waves . . . . .93 

19. Section of the sea and the sea-bottom in the track of ice- 

bergs between Greenland and Newfoundland . . 100 

h 



LIST OF ILLUSTRAriONS. 



20. Cause of subuiaiine springs 

21. Dabs and soles 

22. Poulpe, or cuttle-fish 

23. The hippocampus . 
2i. Herrings attacked by tunny-fish 

25. Fight between a swordfish and a whale 

26. Fight between a sailor and a shark 

27. Turbots 

28. Fishing for sponges on the coast of Syria 

29. Coral with polypi more or less expanded . 

30. Branch of coral with polypi indrawn 

31. Organ-pipe coral .... 

32. Sea-pen (Penuatula spinosa) . 

33. Veretillum cynomoriura 

34. Spicule of coral . ... 

35. Portion of the fan-gorgon, magnified 

36. Dendrophyllia ramea .... 

37. Caryophillia cyathus .... 

38. Astrea punctifera . . 

39. Madrepora plantaginea .... 

40. Dendrophyllia (half the natural size) 

41. Meandrina cerebriformis 

42. Millepora alcicornis (one-fourth of the natural size) 

43. Fungia agariciformis 

44. Gneit^s bored by the Pholades dactylus 

45. Malayan divers fishing for holothuria 

46. Divers dressed in the apparatus invented by MM 

quayrol and Denayrouze . 

47. Divers finding a box of gold in the port of Marseilles 

48. Salvage of Eussian ships sunk at Seba=topol 

49. Caulking a ship while uuder sail . 

50. Sinking blocks of artificial stone at Cherbourg 

51. Vertical section of breakwater at Cherbourg 

52. Diving-bell 



PAG 5 

. 10? 

. Ill 

. 115 

. 121 

. 129 

. 145 

. 149 

. 152 
.167 

. 172 

. 173 

. 175 

. 183 

. 183 

. 185 

. 192 

. 196 

. 197 

. 198 

. 199 

. 200 

. 203 

. 204 

. 206 

. 209 

. 237 



Rou- 



. 271 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



53. Fixed apparatus, supi (lied with compr. sscd aii 

54. Paycrnc's submaririo livdrostat 

55. Villeroy's subiuaiiue boat 

5(). Removing an obstruction by means of a torpctl 

57. Section of a tin mine in Cornwall . 

58. Vertical section of tlie Straits of Gibraltar 

59. Irruption of the sea in Zealand 

60. Eruption of a submarine volcano . 

61. Submarine eruption at the Azores . 

62. Rise of a n(nv island near Ouniraack 

63. Eruption of 'J'omboro in 1821 

64. Paris covered by the sea 

65. A village buried under sand dunes 

66. Floating glaciers 

67. Telegraphic cable at the bottom of the oceaii 



PAQR 

. 27a 
. 276 
. 279 
282 
. 285 
. 300 
.. 303 
. 309 
-. 316 
. 320 
. 323 
. 335 
. 374 
. 377 
, 399 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



SUBMARINE OROGRAPHY. 



1. The riuinmet— Brooke's Deep-sea Sounding Apparatus. 

In these days of great achievement, when a voyage 
round the world has become a holiday trip, the 
youngest boy who is capable of construing Horace 
may wonder that a time ever existed when it was 
thought to be an act of impious daring to cross the 
Ocean. Nevertheless, it may be worth a moment's 
reflection to realise the actual position of a ship 
which has spread sail for some distant port, and 
left familiar coasts far behind. What shall wi* 
call a vessel under these circumstances? A house 
floating in mid-ocean, on a shoreless sea, with nothini'" 
visible around but the heavens, overarching every- 
where the monotonous waste of waters. The ship 
ii'iils on, with the dritting clouds above, and t)i»j 

B 



2 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

currents of ocean below. By what miracle shall 
the sailor be able to keep on the track to his des- 
tined port ? By what means shall he ascertain the 
position he occupies on the vast extent of ocean? 
The science of astronomy comes to his help, fur- 
nishing him with the most simple and exact pro- 
cesses, by which he may discover at any moment 
the route he is following, and the distance which 
yet separates him from his haven. It is by her 
did that he is able to pass safely through dangers 
almost numberless, to avoid iron-bound shores and 
reefs, against which he would blindly hurl himself 
to destruction if the stars did not light his uncertain 
way. 

But it sometimes happens that the observance 
of the heavenly bodies fails the mariner at the very 
moment when he is most in need of their services. 
Let us recall, for example, the numerous dangers, 
even when the sea is quite calm, in which the ship 
is involved which involuntarily approaches a coast 
hidden from view by a thick curtain of fog. In 
this and analogous cases, the seaman resorts to other 
means for help than those furnished by astronomy. 
Among the means most universally employed is the 
plummet. It may be that the good ship is slowly 
drifting on to a bank of sand or gravel which would 
be its destruction. The lead is thrown, and the sea 



THE. PLUMMET. 3 

sounded. In the approaches to some coasts or 
harbours where dangerous rocks abound, the plum- 
met is indispensable as a means of discovering the 
depth and character of the bottom. Is it mud, or 
sand, or gravel, or rock? Will it be advisable to 
cast anchor, or to find a more favourable situation ? 
The plummet will answer these questions. 

In its simplest form this little instrument con- 
sists of a cylinder of lead, suspended by a cord 
attached to one of its extremities, while the other is 
tallowed in order that some portion of the soil at 
the bottom of the sea may adhere to it. It is 
simply dropped into the water, and allowed to fall 
suddenly to the bottom. The imperfection and un- 
certainty of such an instrument are obvious. If the 
sea be calm and of slight depth, it may prove equal 
to its work, and report correctly. But how often is 
the lead pulled up without anything adhering to it ! 
The sea, in fact, is seldom or never at rest, and at all 
times there are currents below the surface, which 
may carry away in a bight hundreds of yards of the 
line, without indicating that the lead has reached the 
bottom. 

Various attempts have been made to improve the 
plummet. The object has been to make quite sure 
that it shall bring up to the surface a sample of the 
soil at the bottom of the sea, and to diminish the 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



effect of curreuts, so that no error may be occasioned 
by the length of line carried away out of the per- 
pendicular. The most ingenious of these improved 




Fig. 2. — Brooke's Deep-sea Sounding Apparatus. 

contrWances is that invented by Passed Midshipman 
Jo M. Brooke, of the United States Navy, who was 
at the time associated with the celebrated Maury. 



DEKF-SEA SOUNDING. 



This clever contrivance, since well known as Brooke's 
*•' Deep-sea Sounding Apparatus," is represented in 
the annexed engravings (figs. 2 & 3). aa is a cannon- 




Fig. 3. — Stiikicg the Sea-bottom. 

ball, perforated, so that the rod or cylinder, bb, maybe 
passed through it. Fig. 2 shows the apparatus ready 
for beinir lowered into the sea. The caunon-ball is 



6 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

supported a certain distance up the rod, on wliich i* 
slides freely, by means of the sling dd, the ends of 
which are looped on to the moveable ears at the top 
of the rod. To these also the line is attached by 
which the apparatus is lowered into the ocean. Th« 
weight of the shot, being sufficient to resist a curreni 
carries the line down perpendicularly ; and when th< 
protruding end of the rod strikes the bottom (fig. 3) 
the line slackens, the moveable ends drop, and th< 
loops of the sling are disengaged. The shot thej 
slides down the rod, and the latter, no longer en 
cumbered with the weight A, can be drawn up wit) 
ease. It will be seen that a sort of cup is formed a 
the lower end of the rod, and this is " armed " witl 
soap or tallow, so that a specimen of the submarin 
soil may adhere to it : or the barrel of a commoi 
quill is attached to the rod, which is said to answe 
better. By either contrivance specimens of the sea 
bottom have been brought up from a depth of nearh 
four miles. Every time this apparatus is used th( 
shot and sling are of course lost, the rod alone being 
recovered when the line is pulled in. 

Attempts to sound the sea before the invention of 
this method have produced results which are now 
regarded as being of little or no value. The 
honour of having made the first attempt belongs 
to Peter the Great, who constructed an apparatus 



DEEP-SEA SOUNDIXG. 



with liooks, especially for the Caspian. Others, 
guided by theory, liave devised petards which were 
to be exploded, or bells which were to be rung, a 
certain number of i'eet below the surface of the 
ocean; and it was hoped that an echo would be heaid 




%A€ 



Fig. 4. — Measuring the Depth of the Sea by means of a Bomb. 

from the bottom, the distance of which could of 
course be calculated. Experiments of this kind were 
made when the winds were hushed and all was still ; 
but echo was silent. M. de Tessan suggested the 
more likely method of letting a bomb fall into the 



8 THJi: BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

sea wliich would explode when it struck the bottom. 
The noise of the report would reach the surface, 
and the time that had elapsed from the moment the 
bomb was dropped into the water would aiford the 
means of calculating the vertical distance it had 
fallen. It is well known that water is a good trans- 
mitter of sound. Dr. Colladon caused a clock to 
strike under the water of the Lake of Geneva, and 
it was heard in the first experiment four leagues off, 
and in the second at more than twdce that distance. 
However, no apparatus has been contrived which 
solves the problem so thoroughly as the invention of 
Brooke. 



2. Construction of Charts and Sections of the Ocean Bottom — But 
little as yet known of this subject — Maury, the Founder of 
Submarine Orographic Science. 

Let us imagine the commander of a vessel sailing 
across the ocean to be capable of taking sounrlings in- 
cessantly from the first to th e last moment of his voyage, 
his apparatus being so contrived that the line would 
shorten or lengthen with such exactness, according to 
the varying depth, that the lead always just touched 
the bottom. His observations, in such a case, woul I 
bear a close resemblance to those which would be 
made by a boatman crossing a river in the sann* 
way. The plunnnet would at first sink to a certain 



CONSTRUCTION OF CM A UTS. i* 

depth, then it would rise, then sink lower again ; ami 
so go on rising and falh'ng at various intervals, unt 1 
the ship arrived at some island or continent, when 
the lead would, of course, be once more level with 
tlie surface. If we imagine, further, that the com- 
mander was careful to record his observations from 
moment to moment, and, finally, to trace on a sheet of 
paper the section formed by the constantly varying 
length of the plummet line, we should see at a glance 
the exact configuration of the sea-bottom throughout 
the ship's course irom one coast to the other. 

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the Atlantic, in a 
line from Mexico, across Yucatan, Culm, San Do- 
mingo, and the Cape de Yerds, to Senegambia, on 
the African coast ; and it may be regarded as the 
result of such a voyage as we have imagined. The 
horizontal line represents the level of the sea. The 
irregular line which cuts it in many points follows 
the undulations of the sea-bottom. Where it rises 
above the horizontal line there is land — that is to 
say, the solid crust of the earth is higher than the 
waters. Where its curve falls below the horizontal 
line, the land is submarine, or under the water. 
Thus, supposing that we take our departure from 
the Mexican coast, the plummet descends at first 
nearly 2000 leet, and returns to the surface on the 
coast of Yucatan. After doubling this peninsula, 



10 



TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



there is again an abrupt descent of about 3300 feet ; 
and from tiience to Cuba the valley is only inter- 
rupted by a chain of submarine hills of little im- 
portance. Eoundiug Cuba, we find ourselves floating 
above a perpendicular ravine, from 7000 to 8000 
feet deep, between that island and Hayti. Between 



90° 



80° 
* 



70° 



60° 



50^ 



40° 



30^ 



20° 



10^ 



Senegal 




[ The scale on the left hind of the diagram is in metres 
depths are given in equivalents of feet. ~\ 

Fig 5. — Vertical Section of tlie Atlantic from Yucatan (coast of Mexico) 
to Senegal. 

Hayti and Porto Eico, and between the latter and 
the Windward Isles, the average depth is something 
less than 7000 feet. Beyond the Lesser Antilles 
there is nothing above the waves until we reach the 
Cape de Yerd Islands. When we first spread sail 
for that point, the plummet falls suddenly to a depth 



FORM OF THE SEA-BOTTOM. li 

of ] 6,500 feet or more, and rises as suddenly to little 
more than lo,000 feet. Again, it descends suddenly 
to 16,000 feet ; and then continues to mark a depth, 
varying by sudden changes, say from 16,000 to 
10,000 feet, until near the Cape de Verd Islands, 
when the depth, even close inshore, is about 14,700 
feet. These pinnacled isles rise to the height of 10,000 
feet above the surface of the sea. Deep gulfs se- 
parate the one from the other; and a still deeper 
trench or canal, with almost perpendicular sides, 
brings the navigator to the African coast. 

We have mentioned the uncertainty of the results 
obtained by the plummet in ordinary circumstances ; 
and from the description we have given of this im- 
perfect instrument, it will be obvious that it affords 
no means for continuous or unbroken observation. 
It is necessary to make a fresh cast of the lead each 
time we want to sound the deep. We can only ob- 
tain, therefore, a series of points separated by inter- 
vals, whicli must be rendered as short as possible, in 
order that they may yield an approximately exact 
representation of the sea-bottom. 

In surveying any portion of land, with a view 
to its exact delineation, we can generally move 
freely over the surface itself that we are studying. 
The operations of geodesy give, with the utmost 
accuracy, the positions and the heights of as many 



12 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

points as we desire. Suppose, however, that tlie 
conditions of our existence were such as to maintain 
Qs constantly at the height of 16,000 feet above the 
sea-level ? In that case, our survey of the land 
would be attended with the same degree of difficulty 
as our attempts to delineate the floor of the ocean. 
The highest mountains only would lift their summits 
into our atmosphere, and those alone we should be 
able to explore by the observation of actual contact. 
The plummet, or some analogous instrument, would 
have to be used for ascertaining the configuration of 
the less elevated regions. This is precisely our case 
in regard to the depths of the ocean. The regularity 
of its surface enables us to make use of it as a common 
point of departure from which to measure the relative 
heights of different parts of the terrestrial surface. 
If sufficient water existed to cover all the land, our 
globe would everywhere present the regular surface 
of a sphere, or nearly so. Although this is not the 
case, yet the great oceans, and all the seas communi- 
cating with them, have the same level. 

The pressure of the air is pretty constant on every 
point of the ocean-surface, and it is found to diminish 
in a certain ratio as we ascend in the atmosphere. 
It must be remembered that the bottom of the at- 
mospheric ocean rests on the surface of the watery 
ocean. If we suppose the whole mass of water to 



PRESSDHE OJi A Hi AND WATER. 13 

coiisLst of a certain number of strata, it is obvious 
that the lowest of these must bear the weight of all 
above it, and is therefore uioi-e compressed than the 
next higher, and so on till we reach the surface. 80 
\^ith the atmosphere. Its entire weight presses on 
tlie lowest stratum which touches the sea, and that 
weight of pressure in the torrid and temperate zones 
is marked by the barometer at 30 inches. If wo 
take the bai'ometer 87 feet above the level of the 
f.ea, it will mark the diminished pressure by 29-9, 
showing that it is one-tenth less. To show a diminu- 
tion of another tenth it would be necessary to go 
through a second space of more than 87 f( et, because 
the pressure of tht^ whole atmosphere is less by the 
height already attained. Thus, we shall find it 
necessary to rise higher and higher for every succes- 
sive tenth, until w^e reach a point when the pressure 
altogether ceases and is marked by 0. This would 
be at the top of the atmosphere. 

The reader will now understand how it is that a 
barometer serves to indicate the height of any part of 
the eaith's surface; indeed, it is the only possible 
means at our command in many cases for ascertaining 
height. A process analogous to this would be em- 
ployed with advantage to measure the depths of the 
sea. Suppose an instrument to be sunk in the water. 
The depth of water through which it had fallen 



14 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

adding its pressure to that of the superincumbent 
air, and water being estimated at 1300 times the 
weight of air, it is plain that calculations which have 
been made relative to the atmosphere would, a 
fortiori, seem to be possible also relative to the ocean. 
An instrument so constructed as to indicate the 
pressure to which it had been subjected in the water 
would serve to complete or correct the results given 
by the sounding apparatus. Discordant indications 
would possibly afibrd evidence as to the direction and 
force of submarine currents. 

If we a VI to the imperfection of the processes 
themselves the difficulties of an accidental character 
which attend their application, we shall find but 
little reason for wonder that submarine orography is 
so little advanced. To make deep-sea soundings, a 
ship must be provided with a considerable amount of 
materiel of no use for any other purpose. A single 
operation during a voyage must employ several per- 
sons, and it could only be made in fair s^eather. In 
general, therefore, merchant-ships cannot be provi led 
with instruments and with hands to make deep-sea 
soundings; they would require cables or lines some 
four miles in length, and their crews would seldom be 
strong enough to deal with such heavy tackle. I'hen, 
the time spent in such op:^rations would occasion incal- 
culable loss to merchants and owners; and if the 



RESULTS OF EXTERIMENTS. J5 

?able parted, that ox[)onse would be added to the rest, 
and thus the lost apparatus could seldom be replaced. 
Evidently, experiments of this kind can only be made 
by Governments, or by commercial companies in- 
terested in their results. For example, the layin^^ of 
submarine telegraph cables has made it necessary in 
recent times to sound the ocean in various tracks. 
A-lmost every day sees some addition made to our 
knowledge in this way, and there can be no doubt 
that the multiplication of submarine telegraph lines 
will tend very greatly to hasten the time wlien we 
shall have an accurate idea of the form of the earth, 
and of the lesser accidents which affect its surface. 

Before the general form of the earth was ascer- 
tained, the depths of the ocean were the subject of 
the most extravagant suppositions. The writings of 
geographers abound in such expressions as that of 
" a bottomless and shoreless sea," to designate the 
Atlantic Ocean. The abandonment of such absurdi- 
ties is a necessary consequence of the facts known in 
the present day concerning the form and physical 
constitution of our planet. But other speculations, 
not less calculated to fill the imagination with an 
idea of grandeur, have taken their place. If the mass 
of water which covers about three-fourths of the solid 
crust of the globe is, after all, limited in quantity, 
what is the depth of the basins which contain it "^ 



16 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

The terrestiial shell is known to be irregularly 
broken, and its fragments, so to speak, piled on one 
another in gigantic masses of picturesque confusion — 
here heaved up into the air, there sunk from depth 
to deptli, with the waters of ocean gathered in their 
deepest gulfs. Plainly, if we add to the measurement 
of these depths beneath tlie sea that of the heights 
above, we shall obtain some useful data, and be 
enabled to form an approximate estimate of the 
stupendous forces in the interior of the globe 
which have produced such irregularities on its 
surface. # 

Before Maury made his appeal to the marine of 
all nations, something was known of the sea-bottom 
in the vicinity of coasts, and in the most frequented 
tracts ; but very little was apprehended of what lay 
under blue water. He called upon his brother sailors 
to commence a systematic observation of the winds 
and of meteoric phenomena, to note the marine cur- 
rents, and to sound the sea as they traversed it, if 
possible, every hundre 1 leagues. His call was heard, 
and heartily responded to. In a few years the North 
Atlantic, ploughed by the ships of all nations, had 
Ijeen sounded in so many points, that Maury was able, 
by combining the results obtained, to trace tlie con- 
figuration of the bottom of that ocean, and construct 
a chart analogous to a geographical tracing designed 



DEPTH OF BLUE WAIEU. 17 

to indicate the surface of a cuuiitry in rcli(>,f. The 
curves are so drawn and .stipj)led as to show distinctly 
when the water is less than 6U00 feet deep, wlien it 
is less than 12,000 feet deep, when it is less than 
1^,000 feet, and when its depth lies between that and 
24,000 feet. The conclusion is that the average 
depth of blue water is not more than three or four 
miles, and that no reliable soundings have been 
made in water over five miles deep. This map (a 
reduced copy of which is given opposite p. 28) gives 
an idea, though an imperfect one, of tlie configura- 
tion of the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean. 

The Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Baltic, and 
the seaboards of France and the British Isles, are 
much better known. These seas are shallow com- 
pared with the ocean, and the European marine 
has too great an interest in their study to neglect 
them. 

On the other hand, in the immense spaces left in the 
southern hemisphere by the continents and islands of 
Oceania the lead has rarely been thrown. The deep- 
sea basins which separate Asia and Africa from 
Australia and America have been but slightly ex- 
plored, chiefly because the navigator there sails fear- 
lessly before the wind, and dreads no rock or shoal 
which would make him desirous of knowing the 
depth of water on which he floats. Some observa 

c 



18 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

tions have been made by the scientific voyages of 
observation sent out at the expense of States ; but 
except these we know of none that are available. 

The southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is equally 
a blank; and to make a sum of the whole matter, 
the greater part of the W( rid beneatli the sea is in- 
differently known. If we add to this fact, that the 
greater part of continents is desert or savage, traversed 
occasionally by a few hardy adventurers, we shall 
begin to see how vast are the lacunae still remaining 
in our study of the globe, and what an ample harvest 
of discovery may yet be reaped by the conscientious 
observers of nature. 

3. Analogy between the Configuration of Continents, and that of 
tlie Bottom of the Sea — Equatorial Section of the Earth. 

Although the scientific results which we have al 
ready mentioned are incomplete, they are sufficient to 
prove that the greatest depth of the sea does not ex- 
ceed about five miles ; thus, that it is about equal to 
the height of the loftiest mountains. This depth 
has been plummed in all the great oceans^ and occa- 
sionally deeper soundings have been reported. The 
results, however, in the latter case have been obtained 
under circumstances w^hich do not command oui 
confidence. Such are the cases in which it would be 
eminently satisfactory to employ an instrument to 



SVDMAHINl': SCEXERY. VJ 

indicate tlie depth hy pressure, ms su^jijested in the 
foregoing section. 

The snbmarine soil in its configurations bears a 
close resemblance to tlie subaerial surface. The geo 
grapliical accidents, so to speak, are tlie same. There 
are plains, valleys, ravines, hills, escarpments, deserts 
of sand, immense deposits of mud, rolled stones, pic- 
turesque rocks, and even water-springs and vol- 
canoes. 

But while the bones of the earth beneath the 
waters, or the framework of the pictui-e, so closely 
resembles that of the soil above, the picture itself 
presents a very different aspect to the observer. In 
the first place, there is but scant light a little distance 
below the surface ; then, the vegetation is of a totally 
different character : the various algae float their long 
and brilliantly-coloured ribbons in the most graceful 
curves and modulations, or display their elegant 
tracery in fine and clearly-cut relief, like our 
mountain-trees. Animals, strange to our eyes, move 
slowly in an element which may be called gross when 
compared with our atmosphere. Springs of fresh 
water, instead of running upon the soil, are dispersed 
in vapour ; volcanic eruptions assume a peculiar 
chai-acter. Yet, with all these differences, the basin 
of the sea, in tlie eyes of the geometer, is in all 
essential respects similar to its shores. 



20 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Let us suppose the sea to be suddenly withdrawr 
from its basin, in order that we may the more clearly 
apprehend the conformation of the terrestrial crust as 
a whole, and thus see at a glance the unequal heights 
and depths which appear to us so considerable, but 
which, in reality, are very small when compared with 
the vast bulk of the planet. Let us, in short, sup- 
pose the earth to be reduced to the same physical 
condition as the moon, without an atmosphere and 
without water :* the eye would be arrested by vast 
ramparts formed of the earth's upheaved strata, and 
piled to a total height of some ten or eleven miles — 
the most gigantic of these picturesque eminences 
corresponding to the Old World, and having its 
culminating-point in the Himalayas. All around 
that vast rocky barrier Mould be seen a deep furrow 
separating it from the double gibbosity formed 
by the two Americas ; and taking our stand on the 
southern extremity of the latter continent, we should 
descry in the distance the summits of Australia 
and the neighbouring isles, and the ramparts of 
the great Austral continent, almost entirely buried 
under snow and ice. 

As the continents have their highest summits, so 
the oceans have their deepest gulfs, and these are often 

* Speaking from present appearances ; for, in fact, tliis point is 
not yet placed absolutelj^ beyond doubt. — Te. 



SUBMA HINE SCKNER Y 2 1 

near neigbbour.s to each otlier. The Himalayan 
peaks are not far from the deepest part of theli.Jian 
Ocean ; the Kocky Mountains have for their near 
neighbour tlie deep gulf of tlie Northern Pacific; 
the Alleghanies are contiguous to the lowest depths 
of the North Atlantic ; and the towering bulk of Mont 
Blanc may be said to rise out of the deepest part of 
the wester/ Mediterranean basin. This remark is of 
general application, and we may add, that if on any 
^oast the highest point of the upheaved surface almost 
equals the depth of the depression, that of the op- 
posite coast will be as far removed from it; as if 
the doublings and upliftings to which the actual 
configuration of the earth's crust is due were 
unsymmetrical, and had produced on the one coast 
a gentle declivity, on the other a steep hill. 

On the subaerial [)art of tiie earth there are vast 
plateaux or table-lands, and elevations of considerable 
altitude. Submarine pLiteaux are in like manner 
of frequent occurrence ; they separate two basins, 
the rocky edges of which are not sufficiently high to 
appear above the waters. In the Northern Atlantic 
Ocean, for example, a vast plateau stretches from 
Iceland to the Azores, and thence, southward and 
westward, to the Antilles or West Indies. The Azores 
correspond to volcanic peaks, rising from that chain 
of submarine mountains. Another plateau extends 



2'i THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

to the north, the east, and a little to the south of 
Newfoundland, terminating abruptly about the lati- 
tude of New York in a steep shore, along the escarp- 
^nent of which flows the celebrated Gulf Stream. Near 
it, the orographic chart shows the centre of a basin 
where the sea is about five miles deep, compared with 
less than a third of that depth on the plateau. Tlie 
now familiar Telegraphic Plateau i'^ ' - latest dis- 
covery of this kind. It is a remcUxv. .o steppe, ex- 
tending from Cape Clear in Ireland to Cape Eace in 
Newfoundland, and upon it the mystic chain which 
unites the intelligence of the Old and the New World 
reposes in perfect security. 

Sometimes from the submarine plateau there spring 
numerous mountain-peaks, which lift their heads 
above the ocean, and rise to a considerable height in 
the atmosphere. Thus, an archipelago or cluster of 
islands consists of the culminating-points of mountain- 
chains, the bases of which are planted on submerged 
plains. If the Americas were covered with water to 
the depth of a mile, more or less, we should find in their 
places groups of islands corresponding to the Eocky 
Mountains, the Andes, the Brazilian Mountains, and 
to some })eaks of the Alleghanies and Antilles. The 
plummet would indicate the existence beneath tlie 
waters of great valleys separated by hills, by plateaux, 
or by mountains, for tiie most part with easy declivities; 



BOUNVXEi^S OF THE SKA-BOTTOM. 



23 



l)nt more abrn[)t near the prcsi'iit sliores of tlic coii- 
tiiieiit, especially on the western side, which overlooks 
the i^reat ocean. 

The bed of the sea cannot, with strict accuracy, be 
compared to the bed of a river. A section of the 
Mississippi, at Plaquemines for example, resembles a 
gutter. Neither does a lake of small extent present 
the means of a satisfactory comparison, however deep 
it may be. If we join the two opposite shores of a lake 
by a straight line, that line will be above the bottom of 
the lake, and will thus appear as a portion of the 
surface. This is not true of a sea, if it be of any con- 
sJit'i-able size. The earth is rounded in form, the 
free surface of the ocean is almost perfectly spherical ; 
and it is from that surface, as a starting-point, that 
the depth of the sea must be estimated. Drive a 
rectilinear tunnel through the earth from Paris to 
Newfoundland, as sketched in the annexed diagram, 



?v^^ 




C-onrGaTiear 






I 




^.*i»^ 


""s?.«»p 


:>^^C^i^ 



Fig. 6. — Section of the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to Newfoundland. 

and it will be found that this tunnel nowhere encoun- 
ters the ocean. It will, in fact, pass far beneath it. 



24 TBE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Its entrance in Paris will neither be vertical nor 
li(irizontal. It will at on -e pass at a considerable depth 
under the English Channel and the ocenn, notwith- 
standing the comparatively great de^dli of thi' latter, 
and will reach the surface at Newfoundland obliquely 
as it had quitted Paris The same observation appliefj 
to all the great seas. The form of the earth being 
spherical, the bottom of the ocean, so far from being 
a cavity, is in its general outline convex. 

In order to give the reader an exact idea of the 
relative thickness of the solid crust of the earth, of 
its liquid covering, and of its gaseous atmosphere, 
we cannot do better than draw a section of the 
equator (fig. 7). In the centre, marked by the 
diagonal shading, is incandescent lire, of the chai-ac- 
ter of which we can only form a conception from 
the productions of volcauic eruptions. A solid crust 
of comparatively slight thickness envelopes the fluid 
kernel, and rests upon it like a rait upon the waves. 
When that internal sea of fire is agitated, its pal- 
pitations are revealed to us by startling results — in a 
word, by the breaking-up of that fragile crust upon 
which repose all our hopes. 

This solid covering is enveloped by a double at- 
mosphere. The lower (or aqueous) portion is not 
adapted to our mode of existence ; we can but float 
upon its surface. It is divided or broken up by the 



EQ UA TORI A L SECTION, 



25 



elevation of the earth info the hii^lier or gaseous 
poj-tion, which is alone appropriate to our nature. 




[The scale of depths is fifty times greater than that itf lentjths.} 
¥.g. 7. — Equatoiial Section of the Eaith. 

In all prolability the thickn ss of the earth's 



2fi THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

crust is very far from being uniform. Its maximum 
cannot exceed, even if it reaches, sixty miles, or less 
than the sixtieth part of the earth's radius. In some 
places it is certainly very much less. In the neigh- 
bourhood of volcanoes, for example, it is so thin that 
combustible matters are ejected through the fissures 
in whicli these mountains abound. 

The greatest depth of the liquid envelope is 
probably less than six miles, and the gaseous at- 
mosphere, so far as it is respirable, can hardly be 
said to reach five miles in height. It is in this 
limited zone, of ten or twelve miles' thickness, that all 
the phenomena of life take place. How small is this 
space compared with the great mass of the globe; 
and, to follow out the contrast, what an atom is man 
compared with the immensity of the universe ! 

In the section (fig. 7) the bed of the great Equi- 
noctial Ocean, and that of the Indian Ocean, is 
marked by a dotted line, the data being insufficient 
to determine their depths with precision. This sec- 
tion cuts the northern part of South America, and 
touches the Pichincha volcano. It asses by the 
Galapagos Islands, which are separated from the 
continent by a deep arm of the sea. Traversing 
the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it cuts the archi 
pel ago of the Scarborough Isles ; and, farther on, the 
Moluccas, the island of Borneo; Sumatra, with one 



MAURY'S CHART. 91 

of its volcai'oes ; Mount Opliir, directly opposite 
Picbincha — then the Indian Ocean, the immense 
plateau of Africa, tlie is!e of St. Thomas, and the 
Atlantic. In making this circuit, we are chiefly im- 
pressed by the fact that the external surface of the 
earth's crust is almost exactly represented by a 
circle. It is not without difficulty that we represent 
only a slightly undulating line, the inequalities 
being exaggerated in order that they may be at all 
perceptible. 



4. Nortliern Atlantic Ocean — Chart of Maury. 

The Atlantic Ocean takes the form of a great canal, 
stretching directly from north to south, and trending 
to the east in its northern part. With Maury's Chart 
before us we shall find it comparatively easy to form 
an idea of the configuration of this ocean-bed. 

Tlie curves which indicate its varying level are 
drawn at such a distance from each other as to mark 
a thousand fathoms' difference in the relative depths. 
Thus all the points situated between the shores and 
the first curve vary in depth from to 1000 fatlioms, 
or 6000 feet; all the points between the first curve 
and the second augment in depth from 1000 to 2000 
fathoms ; those between the second and third from 
2000 to 3000 lathoms ; and those between the third 



28 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

and fourth from 3000 to 4000 fathoms. Any greater 
depth is indicated by the blanks. On referring to 
the chart (iig. 8), it will be seen that a depth ex- 
ceeding 4000 fathoms is thus marked between New- 
foundland and the Bermuda Islands, in the track of 
the Gulf Stream. The plummet there descends to 
a depth of about 5000 fathoms, or nearly 30,000 feet. 
Westward of the Canary Islands is another deep point, 
the indication of the plummet being about 24,300 feet. 

A marked region of this ocean-bed, having a depth 
which varies from about 3000 to 4000 fathoms, ex- 
tends from the south of Newfoundland, rounds the 
Bermudas, and follows very nearly the direction of 
the American coast to the extreme latitude of Florida. 
It then winds south-east, keeping a certain distance 
from the Antilles, and terminating near the north- 
eastern extremjty of that archipelago. 

A second remarkable trough, separated from the 
last-mentioned by a submarine chain of mountains, 
extends like a long gutter from the north-west to the 
south-east, even beyond the equator. It is nearer to 
the Brazilian than to the African coast. 

Throughout these regions, which are the deepest in 
the Atlantic Ocean, the bottom exhibits great irregu- 
larity. The gulf deepens rapidly from the coast of 
America and the Antilles, but slopes gently from 
Europe and Africa. We observe, in fact, that the 



BOTTOM OF THE ATLAM'IC. 29 

curves of the cliart approach very near to each other 
on the west, and are faiihest from each other on the 
east of the depression. Another noticeable feature is 
the immense plateau ranging almost parallel with 
the European and African coast, and dividing what may- 
be called the shelving side of the ocean-gnlf into two 
parts, for which reason it has been named by Maurj^ 
the "Middle Ground." It commences at Iceland, 
passes the Azores, and extends southward to the lati- 
tude of the Canary Islands ; then trends towards the 
Bermudas, and bulges southward to a point east of 
the Antilles. The depth of the sea at the southern 
termination of this plateau is marked in the chart by 
a curve, which indicates less than 2000 fathoms, or 
from 11,000 to 12,000 feet. This locality is identical 
with a part of the Grassy Sea. Between this middle 
ground and the coast of Europe a long valley extends 
north and south, and, at the Cape de Verd Islands, 
joins the depression w^hich is bounded by Africa, 
America, and the plateau or middle-ground just 
described. 

The depth of this valley is almost everywhere a 
little under 3000 fathoms, the exception being another 
spot, previously alluded to, west of the Canary Islands. 
In the northern end, westward from the British Isles, 
and even across the Middle Ground to Newfoundland, 
the depth is so uniform, that when soundings were 



30 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

made for the purpose of laying a telegraphic cable 
between the Old World and the New, all this part of 
the ocean-bottom seemed as if it were purposely de- 
signed to form the bed of that wonderful conductor of 
thought. Hence the name of " Telegraphic Plateau " 
was given to it. 

For a considerable distance around the Azores the 
depth is less than 1000 fathoms. About halfway 
between the Azores and Newfoundland, there is also 
!i circumscribed region of comparatively slight depth 
— being marked in Maury's Chart as less than 2000 
fathoms. In the whole of this route — that is to say, 
from Spain to the Azores, and from the Azores to 
Newfoundland — the depth nowhere exceeds 3000 
fathoms. It has therefore appeared to present a 
suitable course for a telegraphic cable. The French 
line is laid midway between this plateau and the 
Enghsh cable of 1866. 

Along the coasts of Brazil and Guiana the sea be- 
comes rapidly shallower ; and as the great equatorial 
current which carries the waters from east to west is 
of vast breadth, we need not feel surprised to observe 
that it increases in swiftness as it approaches the 
coasts which confine its bed. There is then a descent 
or lower depth of the sea-bottom extending eastward 
from the Isthmus of Panama to St. Domingo, as if the 
rnsli of the carrent had washed out a o'ulf. This 



BOTrGER'S CHART. 31 

is succeeded by the coinparatively shallow space of 
the Gulf of Mexico, and the sea in the neighbourhood 
of the Greater Antilles and the United States. 

A great extent of shallow sea is also to be observed 
extending from Nova Scotia to the east of the Great 
Bank of Newfoundland, and to the coast of Labrador. 
It is by this route, as all know, that the polar ice 
and icebergs descend towards the Gulf Stream, the 
warm current of which causes them to melt, and do- 
posit in the bed of the sea the debris of the land from 
which they had drifted away. 



5. The Mediterranean and the Black Seas — Chart of Bottger. 

The Mediterranean and the Black Seas are of no 
great depth. The plummet seldom reaches 12,000 
feet, and not more than half that depth in the greater 
part of their extent. The waters of the Mediter- 
ran;ean, however, cover many great valleys. The 
deepest is surrounded by the shores of Tripoli, Greece, 
and Italy. It is separated by a narrow chain of 
mountains from another great valley, which occupies 
the space bounded by the Grecian Archipelago, Asia 
Minor and the coasts of Syria and Egypt. 

Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, we find the 
submarine soil highest near the coasts of Spain and 
Morocco. At the western end of the strait, the depth 



32 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

does not exceed 1000 or 1200 feet. As we advance 
eastward the depth augments rapidly, till it reaches 
nearly 12,000 feet south-east of Malaga. Soon, how- 
ever, the soil rises again. North of Melilla (a port on 
the coast of Morocco) it is about 1200 feet from the 
level of the sea, and forms a submarine mountain- 
chain, which bounds on the east a sort of little basin 
confined between the Sierra Nevada and the Marocco 
mountains, which are reunited under the sea in the 
Straits of Gibraltar. 

Continuing eastward, the explorer would descend 
into another valley almost as deep as that mentioned 
above, and communicating with that great depression 
by a neck of the chain which stretches under the 
waters from Oran to the Cape of Gades. Having 
surmounted this obstacle, we bend our steps north- 
east, and find ourselves in a great depression, which is 
narrow at first, but gradually spreading out becomes 
a great plain stretching to the Balearic Isles and the 
coasts of Sardinia and Algeria. We leave this great 
depression or basin by climbing a very steep ascent to 
the north-west. We then find ourselves upon an ex- 
tended plateau, from which rise numerous mountain- 
peaks. The principal of these form the Balearic 
Isles. The plateau is scarcely interrupted by Cartha- 
gena and Valencia, by the Balearic Isles, and by 
Corsica. It narrows, however, between these islands, 



THE MEDlTEliUANEAN liASINlS. 35 

and we discover to the north anotlier irregular cavity 
occupying the space comprised between Majorca and 
the coast of Spain, and the Gulfs of Lyons and Genoa. 
The depth of the sea there does not exceed 6000 feet; 
and from this bottom there rises an isolated peak at 
the entrance of the Gujf of Lyons. 

To ascend from the Algerian depression eastward, 
it would be necessary to avoid the escarpments 
around Sardinia, and draw towards Tunis, in order to 
find an easier declivity. All around Sardinia and 
Corsica tlie depth of the sea is slight ; the basin 
formed by the Tyrrhenian Sea has nothing to boast 
of but two straight and elongated ravines- — the one 
extending from west to east, rounding the Lipari 
Islands : the other from north-west to south-east, 
running parallel to the Neapolitan coasts. 

The Bank Aventure and the Rocks of Skerki, near 
Tunis and Sicily, form an undulating plateau, over 
which we pass to the eastern basin of the Mediterra- 
nean. A steep descent leads from Malta, one of the 
culminating-points of the plateau, to the bottom of 
the depression which has for its boundaries Italy and 
Greece, Asiatic Turkey and Africa. The greatest 
depth is near Malta, where the plummet descends 
more than 14,000 feet, or about 2^ miles. No other 
spot in the Mediterranean is so deep as this. 

The mountains of Greece and Candia are prolonged 



36 TEE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

beneath the waters, and they divide into two nearly 
equal parts the great cavity we are now considering. 
The western part presents some steep slopes, but 
generally the bottom rises very gradually, till we come 
to the shallow waters of the coast of Africa on the 
one hand, and to those of the Adriatic on the other. 



M 






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\_ScaIe of depths a hundred times that of the lenjth.'] 
Fig. 10. — Depths of the Adriatic. 

In this sea, if we except a little basin about 4000 feet 
deep, the plummet rarely if ever descends more than 
600 feet. The eastern half, or Grseco-l^^gyptian basiu, 
extends to the southern part of the Archipelego, as 
far as the coasts of Greece. The islands of Candia, 
Caxo, Scarpanto, Khodes, and Cyprus are planted 
on its borders. The alluvial deposits of the JSile 
tend to raise the level southward, as indicated by the 
map. The lines, which mark a depth not exceeding 
300 feet, form a spacious area in front of the Delta, . 
and are succeeded by the curves of 600 feet, then by 
those of 1500 feet, and so on to the greatest depth of 



THE NORTHERN SEAS. HI 

the basin, about 10,000 feet. The course of the marine 
currents near the moutlis of the Nile is from west to 
east. The action of these currents, it is hardly neces- 
sary to say, tends to carry the alluvial matter east- 
ward ; hence tlic deep part of the sea is farther from 
the coast eastward from the Nile than w estward. 

If we ascend fiom this basin to the north-west, we 
shall find ourselves among the rocky gorges domi- 
nated by Candia and Scarpanto. These irregular and 
broken elevations form a great volcanic region, the 
principal peaks of which form the islands of the Greek 
Archipelago. 

The defiles of the Dardanelles, the valley covered 
by the Sea of Marmora, and the ravine commanded 
by Constantinople and Scutari, open to the plain upon 
which debouch the greatest rivers of Europe. The 
Black Sea is of little depth. It is surrounded on its 
southern shores by the heights of the Caucasus, the 
Armenian mountains, and the Balkan. Northward 
the Kussian steppes extend under the sea, which their 
debris, wasJied down by the great rivers, tend to fill up. 

6. The Baltic— The North Sea— The Straits of Dover— The 
English Channel — The Bay of Biscay. 

'The Baltic, like the Black Sea, is .of little depth. 
We shall see by-and-by that its bed is the seat of 
very remail<able phenomena Its northern part is 



38 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

slowly but steadily rising, insomucli that the Gulf 
of Botlmia diminishes in extent and depth at a 
certain constant rate. At the same time, the southern 
part of this ocean-bed is sinking, and the sea is 
gradually taking possession of the lower plains of 
Mecklenburg and Poinerania. 

The Skager Rack leads from the Baltic into the 
North Sea, which is likewise of slight depth. Ex- 
cepting a long narrow trough which follows the 
direction of the coast of Norway, the bed of the 
North Sea may be described as an undulating plain, 
never more than 600 feet deep. Some of the greater 
banks almost reach the level of the waters ; others 
are not more than a hundred feet beneath the surface. 
In this sea various kinds of fish are abundantly 
nourished by marine worms ; numerous sites covered 
with algae provide them with an agreeable retreat ; 
and the water, constantly beaten by the winds, is 
plenteously supplied with air for the respiration of 
its innumerable hosts. 

The shores of the British Isles are very abrupt, but 
the sea is of no gi-eat depth until w^e pass beyond the 
west of Ireland and the Hebrides. At the distance 
of about twenty leagues from Valencia we fin 1 a 
depth of 600 feet, which increases westward, until 
we arrive at the Telegraphic Plateau already de- 
scribed. 



THE ENGLISH CHANNEL 39 

The whole extent of France and the ICnHi^h 
Channel, of the British Isles and the North 8ea, forms 
one great plateau, wliich is terminated on the west and 
on the north by a steep declivity. The following sec- 
tion (fig. 11) will give an idea of what we mean. The 
straight horizontal line represents the level of the 




Fig. 11. — Profileof the Ocean Floor from the soutliernmost point of Xoiway, 
via the Straits of Dover, to the iOth degree of west longitude and the 47th 
degree of noith latitude. 

sea. The irregul.ir line beneath it represents the 
bottom of tile sea, which resembles a vast plateau or 
block of table-land. Near the coast of Norway we 
find the deep trough, or ravine, already mentioned. 
To the left, the soil slopes off very gradually (inter- 
rupted by a ridge, or bank, about the middle of the 
Straits of Dover) ; but it deepens considerably in the 
Channel, and then suddenly sinks away, and presents 



40 TBE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

a declivity whicli may be compared to a rampart 
a la Vauban. We may remark here that, contrary 
to the general opinion, the aspect of the coast often 
suggests a false idea of the sea-bottom. When a 
precipitous mountain descends sheer into the water, 
we are apt to fancy the sea must be very deep at 
that spot ; wliereas, if we try the plummet, it will 
most likely be found shallow. Here, again, a sand- 
bank suggests a low flat shore beyond it, devoid of 



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it 


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CO o 


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00 


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rH CC 



1 



\_'f/te scale on the left hand of the diag7^um is in inetres, hut the 
depths are given in equivalents of feet.'] 

Fig. 12. — Vertical Section of the Straits of Dover. 

rocks ; we sail on and drop the lead, but cannot touch 
bottom. Many examples of these deceptive appeai- 
ances must have struck the reader during our rapid 
survey of the ocean-floor. 

Notwithstanding its steep shores the English 
Channel is of slight depth. Notwithstanding the 
cliffs which confront each other on the opposite 
coasts of England and France, there is so little 
water in the Straits of Dover, that if the level of 



THE ENGLISH C HANSEL. 41 

the sea were reduced by sixty yards the two roun- 
tries would be united by a natural causeway ; nay, 
if the water were only drawn off to the extent of 
eight yards in depth, an island would be left in th<; 
middle of the narrow passage. Unha})pdy for the 
enemies of England, the contrary of this is more 
likely to occur, as the tendency of the soil in this 
part of Europe is to sink, as will be seen further on. 



42 TBE BOTTOM OF' THE SEA. 



THE WATER OF THE OCEA^. 



1. Composition of Sea- water — Biot's Apparatus. 

Seas are the products of atmospheric vapou% con- 
densed into fresh-water. But the eartli, with which 
the water came into contact, contains various soluble 
matters. These w(-re dissolved by the water, and 
its purity was irrevocably lost. 

The vapour which is lifted from the seas by the 
action of the atmospheric currents may be said to rise 
in a pure state ; in other words, it is fresh water that 
is raised. But, again, it falls in the form of rain or 
snow upon the soil, over which it passes slowly to its 
destination, and thus becomes charged anew with 
salts which it conveys into the sea. Every time 
evaporation takes place, the vapour returns in the 
form of water laden with fresh matter from the sur- 
face of the earth. This alternate migration of vapour 
and water must tend to augment continually the salt- 
ness of the sea, and if there were no countervailing 
cause, its saltness would increase to the extreme point 
of saturation. 



COMPOSITION OF SEA-WATER. 



13 



The fact is, however, that countless myriads of ani- 
mals extract from the waters of the ocean enough solid 
matter to build continents of. The foramiuiferse, the 
polypi, and the molluscs hence derive the calcareous 
coverings which form their shells or skins. An esti- 
mate may be f«)rmed of the stupendous nature of the 
agency of these little creatures, by considering the 
vast extent of the beds of calcareous rock which form 
part of the earth's crust, and which are composed of 
the dShris of creatures so small that upwards of fifty- 
eight thousand of them liave been counted in a cubic 
inch of chalk. No doubt other marine animals ex- 
tract other salts from the ocean, and we must add to 
their action that of the marine vegetation. Setting 
these considerations aside for the present, the actual 
composition of sea-water is found to be as follows : — 



Water .... 

Sea-salt, or chloride of sodium 

Chloiide of magnesium . 

Chloride of potassium 

Bromide of magnesia 

Sulphate of magnesia 

Sulphate of lime 

Carbonate of lime . 

Residuum, not determined, but consisting of 

sulphuretted hydrogen gas, hydrochlo- 

reto of ammouia, &c. &c. 



9620| 


grains 


27-1 


5» 


5-4 


'> 


0-4 


» 


0-1 


» 


1-2 


»> 


0-8 


?> 


0-1 


51 



2-9 



1000-0 



Sea-^^•ater, being thus composed, is considerat)ly 



44 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

heavier than fresh- water of equal volume. Thus, a 
litre of fresh-water (nearly 1| pint) weighs less than 
a kilogramme (exactly 0^^998) at the temperature of 
68° Fahrenheit ; the same volume of fresh-water under 
the same conditions would weigh V^'021. But the 
weight of sea-water, like its composition, is far from 
being constant ; it varies according to times and 
places, and even according to the depth from which it 
is taken. Southern sea-water is heavier than that of 
the northern hemisphere in the proportion of 1*0272 
to 1 "02(32 of specific gravity, owing to the greater 
quantity of salt it contains. Off Cape Horn its specific 
gravity is 1*028, the heaviest known. The upper 
current of the Gulf Stream is lighter than the current 
below, because it is less saturated with salt ; but these 
facts will be further elucidated by-and-by. 

As the air, at whatever height we take a sample, 
is found to be of the same composition, an interesting 
question arises whether or not the sea partakes of this 
property ? Are the gases which enter into its com- 
position always in the same proportions? These 
questions are not easy to solve, because the enor- 
mous pressure exercised by a column of water many 
thousands of yards in depth causes extraordinary 
difficulties in the construction of the necessary ap- 
paratus. It must be remembered that it is essential 
to obtain the water at the required depth, and bring 



SEA-WATEB AT VARIOUS DEPTHS. 45 

it to the surface with all that it contains in hermeti- 
cally-sealed vessels. It is not possible to emplo\ 
empty vessels, such as aie used for investigations 
into the (character of the atmosphere, contrived to 
open at the required depths. The water would 
either br, ak the vessels or filter through then). On 
their approaching the surface, any gases that had 
been subject to the enormous powers of compression 
of the superincumbent water, would dilate to an ex- 
tent which no vessel hermetically sealed could be 
expected to resist. Biot has, to some extent, over- 
come these difficulties in the following manner. 

He takes for his vessel a hollow cylinder of glass, 
closed at one end by a solid plate of metal, so as to 
resemble a pail. Like a pail also it has a handle, 
with a cord attached, by which it is let clown into 
the sea. This pail being open to the surrounding 
water, descends to any required depth without injury 
from the pressure of the water ; and whenever the 
operator pleases he pulls a second cord, attached 
to the bottom of the pail by means of an inverted 
handle, and this causes the vessel to tip over. By 
the same cord he draws it to the surface. It must 
now be observed that the metal bottom of the pail is 
double ; one of its parts being fixed, the other move- 
able like a piston, and capable of descending in 
the cylinder by its o\A'n weight when the vessel is 



i(; THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

reversed. In the fixed bottom there is a small hole, 
furnished with a valve, which opens from the exterior 
to the interior, so that the water passes through and 
fills the space between the descending piston and the 
fixed bottom. This being done, the valve is closed 
by the action of a spring, and the water contained in 
the pail is isolated. 

If this water contained any quantity of compressed 
air, nothing would be able to resist its expansive 
power when it was drawn to the surface, and the 
pressure of the exterior water ceased to act. It 
would then burst the apparatus and escape. As a 
safeguard against this violence, a free issue is 
prepared, sufficient to serve for any possible expan- 
sion of the air in the water. In the fixed bottom 
there is a passage communicating with a bladder, 
which is empty and folded up when the apparatus is 
let down into the sea, but which receives whatever 
gas or air the water in the pail may disengage as it 
ascends, and thus returns to the surface more or less 
inflated. The operator then closes the stopcocks 
with which the passage of communication between 
the pail and the bladder is fitted ; and having sepa- 
rated the latter, he proceeds to measure and analyse 
the air contained in it. Having done this, he can 
study at his leisure the water enclosed in the pail, 
and whatever matter it holds in solution. 



SALTXESii OF TUE ISEA. 4 7 

4 

2. Varintions in llie Saltness of Sea-water. 

Water is so iiiueh the more heavy as it is more salt. 
It is not surprising, therefore, that the saltn* ss of the 
sea should increase with its depth. That increase is 
not indefinite, because water at a certain temperature 
can only hold in solution a given quantity of mineral 
matters. 

We must at once confess to our ignorani-e of tlie 
quantity of salts held in solution in the profound depths 
of the Ocean. With the apparatus of Biot we can, it 
is tru(", obtain Avater from great depths. Still, it is 
not possible to operate at distances of 20,000 or 
t-^0,000 icet from the surface ; or, if possible, the 
business is at once too costly and too diflicult to be 
often attempted. 

Eain and evaporation cause the saltness of the 
superficial waters of the sea to vary considerably. 
Evaporation increases, rain diminishes it. The 
effects due to these causes are, generally speaking, 
not very apparent ; but they are very observable when 
one of them predominates. If it rains frequently in 
certain regions, the saltness of the surface of the 
sea is slight in comparison with that of places u hen^ 
the clearness of the atmosphere favours evaporation. 
It is less at the equator than near the tropics. It is 
greatest at the 21st parallel of north latitude, and 



48 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

the Kith of south latitude, in tlie Atkntie Ocean. 
Above these latitudes tlje saltness diminishes con- 
tinmally to the polar regions. 

On the other hand, we must not foriret that there 
exists near the equator a zone (tlie Equntorial Calm 
Belt), where the precipitation of the vajiour of water, 
in the form of rain, is almost incessant. To the 
north and south the trade-winds sweep the surface 
of the sea, and the atmosphere is clear, or only 
shadowed by clouds floating towards the region of 
rains. We also find, on approaching the poles, two 
zones of variable winds, where frequent tempests 
disturb the air, and cause abundant condensations. 
The relation of evaporation and rain to the saltness 
of the sea is thus made evident. 

In the polar regions the saltness of the sea is mo- 
dified by another cause not less active than the 
above — namely, the melting of the ice, accumulated 
like two vast cowls over the extremities of the earth. 
Every year, during the summer of eaf^h hemisphere, 
torrents of fresh-water are poured out towards the 
temperate regions. These torrents gradually mingle 
with the salt-water of the ocean, upon which they 
first flow along as a river on its bed ; and as a con- 
sequence of this, and the other active causes to wliich 
we have alluded, the saltness of the sea grows less at 
the surface in proportion as we approach the poles. 



EVAPOBATIOS OF THE SEA. 49 

The water which the ocean loses by evaporation 
IS returned to it in full measure by rains and riviL'rs. 
It is not so, however, in the case of certain interior 
seas, completely isolated from the ocean, or only 
communicating with it by means of a narrow channel. 
The winds which blo.v upon such a sea may be de- 
spoiled of tlieir humidity by their passage across 
great continents, and the rivers themselves may not 
bring a sufficient tribute to supply tlie loss caused 
by a powerful evaporation ; or it may happen that the 
quantity of water returned by rains and rivers is 
exactly equal to that which is lost by evaporation ; 
or, finally, the supply may exceed the loss. In 
either case, the result, as regards the saltness of the 
sea, is obvious. In the first case its water will be 
saltei- than that of the ocean; in the second, it will 
be about the same ; in the third, less. 

If the interior sea communicates with the ocean, 
there will generally be a current in the channel 
which unites them. This current will float ships 
into the interior sea if that sea loses moie water 
than it receives; but it \\ill bear them to-vards the 
ocean if it receives more water than it lus ,;. The 
Mediterranean and the Red Sea both receive the 
waters of the ocean. The Black Sea and the IJaltic 
are, so to speak, too rich; they contribute their 
excess of water to the neighbouring seas. 

E 



50 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

When the interior sea is the bottom of a basin 
without issue, either the supply of water hy means 
of rains and rivers iimst equal in volume that which 
is lost by evaporation, or the sea must gradually dry 
up. Tlie Caspian and the Dead 8eas are both examples 
in point. The first is surrounded by ealt steppes, 
where it is easy to discover traces of the recent exist- 
ence of the waters. Its level is above 100 feet below 
that of the Black Sea, and it is constantly decreasing 
in extent, and is very salt. The Dead Sea is at pre- 
sent about 1400 feet below the level of the Eed Sea ; 
yet travellers have recognised between the two seas 
the dried-up bed of a river, which, through causes not 
yet ascertained, has ceased to unite them. Since that 
epoch, the Dead Sea has not received sufficient water 
from the Jordan to supply the loss ocasioued by eva- 
poration ; its level has consequently sunk and its salt- 
ness has proportionately increased, until an equilibrium 
has been established between the supply and loss. 

There are many salt lakes, both in the Old World 
and the New, which owe their saltness entirely to the 
rivers which flow into them. The delivery of water is 
increased, and the lakes overflow ; it is diminished, the 
lake retires, and its saltness increases. When the 
supply of water is quite insufficient to compensate for 
evaporation, the lake dries up, and in its place is 
seen a valley covered with a bed of salt. 



MATERIALS WASHED IS BY RIVERS. 5j 

The composition ol sen-water varies most in the 
neif^hbourhoocl of tlie coasts. It is only at a con- 
siderable distance Iroiii its embouchure that the 
water of a river mixes with that of the ocean, and 
the one is often distinguished from the other by a 
well-defined line. This phenomenon is most striking 
at the embouchure of the Mississippi. The " Father 
of AVaters " rolls into the sea laden with yellow mud, 
which forms a shifting promontory in the midst of 
the dark waters of the Mexican Gulf. 

"Suddenly," says a recent traveller,* "it seemed 
to me tliat the colour of the water had changed : 
the deep blue had become yellow, and the distinc- 
tion between them was marl^ed by a line as straight 
as if drawn with a cord, extending from east to 
west. Northward, a darkish coast-line, half con- 
cealed by mist, indicated the direction of the land : 
we were floating on the waters of the Mississippi. 
Soon the speed of the ship was slackened, she was 
scarcely able to make way ; all at once she stopped, 
her keel was fast in the mu;l." 

Another cause sometimes tends to diminish tlie 
saltness of tlie superficial waters near the coasts. 
Rain which falls upon the steep or sloping shores 
at once finds its way into the sea. In this case the 
waves and currents combine to mingle the fresh 

* M. Elisee Reclus : Fragment d'un Voyage a la NouveUe-Orlean» 



62 THJi: BOTTOM Oi THE SEA. 

and ihe salt water togethei", and the accidental 
anomaly is soon lost to observation. 

Fresh-water is contributed even by the bottom of 
the sea itself. It is true the phenomenon of sub- 
marine springs is of rare occurrence, yet some re- 
markable instances are known, and many others 
may have escaped notice. In some places, generally 
near tlie shore, the sea may be seen to bubble, and 
yet no gas is disengaged. The movement is occa- 
sionally so pronounced that the surface of the sea 
swells as with a wave ; and if, in such a case, we test 
the water, it will be found to b(3 less salt than usual. 
If the sample be taken from near the bottom, it will 
prove to be nearly fresh ; indeed, if the source be 
abundant, it will be found to be quite fresh. The 
effect of these springs, however, is not traceable to 
any considerable distance, and as they are always 
near the shore, we can only regard them, in con- 
nection with our subject, as objects of curiosity. 



3. Variations observed in the Gases contained in Sea-water. 

Sea-water not only contains salts, but gases. Air 
penetrates into the sea, as water penetrates into the 
atmosphere, in the state of vapour. Thus a kind of 
exchange or reciprocity of action is established, and in 
both cases a sort of refinement or purification is efiected 



GAiSES ly THE SEA, n'A 

Water converted into vapour is disburdened of its 
salts ; air contained in water becomes ri(;her in 
oxygen. This gas plays a most important part in 
oceanic phenomena. Without it no living thing could 
exist in thi' sea. Except for it, even those beautiful 
algae, whose long and brilliantly-coloured ribbons are 
floated in undulating curves by the marine currents, 
uould no longer charm the eye. The whole race 
of polypi would cease to construct their stony habi- 
tations, which are so much admired by the lovers of 
nature. 

The deeper we penetrate into the ocean the more 
abundant are the gases. The increase of carbonic 
acid gas with the increasing depth is especially re- 
markable; and lience the gaseous mixture found in 
the dreper parts of the sea is less suitable for re- 
spiration than that which is nearer the surface. It 
is further to be observed that the renewal of gases 
in deep water is effected with much less facility ; 
and this may be regarded as one of the causes 
which tend to prevent the existence of organised 
beings at a great depth. As aerial plants and 
animals are confined to the lower strata of the 
atmosphere, so marine plants and animals are ^'on- 
demned to remain near tlie surface of the waters, com- 
paratively speaking. Thus, the living beings which 
flourish on our globe are confined to a very limited 



54 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Stratum of air and water, and they reach their maxi- 
mum development where the two atmospheres meet* 
When a volcanic eruption takes place in the sea, 
the composition of the gases contained in the 
water is necessarily changed in the neighbourhood 
of the volcano by the subterranean emanations. 
Some seas, like the Caspian, are literally poisoned 
by volcanic products, and this to such a degree that 
it is hardly possible to live near them. A bird can- 
not hover above their waters without the risk oi* 
perishing from their deadly influence.! In the great 
oceans the gases produced by volcanic eruptions are 
reduced to insignificant proportions by the action of 
the marine currents. 

* Notwitli standing the general truth there is in this statement, 
organised creatures have recently been discovered in much gnattr 
depths than had been anticipated. — Tr. 

t This was for a long time the popular notion concerning the 
Dead Sea, The fact is now known to be otherwise. Mr. Tristram, 
in that chapter of hs interesting journal where he describes "the 
Dead Sea shore," ment'ons having seen a fine brown-necked raven, 
which flew quite across the lake, and a kingfisher actually sitting on 
a dead bough in the water. Many gulls were also fishing in their 
customary manner ; small flocks of pocLard ducks skimmed the 
surface, and close along th(j shore were dunlins, redshanks, and 
wagtails, and one specime;i of the desert whtatcur. At tlie same 
time, lie says, " it is quite cert, in that no form of either vertebrate or 
molluscous life can exist for more than a very short time in the sea 
itself, and that all t! at enti r it are almost immediately poisoned and 
edited down," — Tr. 



ANIMAL DEBRIS IN THE HE A. 55 

4. Solid Bodied in the Sea — Phosphorescence. 

The sea holds in suspension a great variety of 
solid matters. In the first rank are fish, which 
float in the liquid element as birds in the air, 
whilst the other living creatures of the ocean are 
under the necessity of finding a point of support on 
the submarine soil. The number of creatures float- 
ing in the water is enormous. Many species of 
them congregate in shoals, which have sometimes 
been known to cover hundreds of square leagues of 
surface, and extend several hundreds of feet in 
thickness or depth. It is not, however, to the 
natural history of animals that our attention is now 
called. Our subject is the sea-bottom, and it is only 
so far as any creature lives on the submarine soil, or 
leaves its spoils there, that we owe it any special 
regard. One passing observation may be made. It 
seems certain that such immense shoals of living 
beings must vitiate the aqueous atmosphere in which 
they float, just as any other similar congregation of 
men or animals would affect the surface of the earth 
and the air they breathe. Their dehris must un- 
doubtedly be reckoned among the agents by which 
the basin of the sea is more or less modified. 

The spawn of fish existing in such numbers forms 
enormous banks, and it is to this cause that thf^ 



50 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

phosphorescence of the sea is sometimes due. M. 
de Tessan has observed a phenomenon of this kind 
at Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope : — 

"On the 10th of April, in the evening, the sea, 
in the roadstead of Simon's Town, presented an ex- 
traordinary phosphorescence of the most vivid 
cliaracter. At whatever points tlie phosphorescence 
was greatest, the water was coloured on the surface 
as red as blood, and it contained such an immense 
quantity of little globules that it had the consistency 
of a syrup. A bucket of water taken up at one of tliese 
points, and filtered through a piece of linen, left on 
the filter a mass of globules greater in volume than 
the water that had passed throngh : in other words, 
the globules constituted more than half of the whole 
quantity of sea-water taken up in the buck'et. 
Yiew^ed through a magnifying-glass, these globules 
presented the appearance of little transparent and 
inflated bladder.-^, having on their surface a black 
point, surrounded with equally black radiating striae. 
They had a very perceptible odour of the sea, and 
most probably they were the spawn of fish. Thus 
isolated fi-om the water, they were highly phos- 
phorescent; the least agitation, the least contact 
made them throw out a vivid greenish light, whilst 
the water that had been filtered away from them 
had completely lost the property of becoming phos- 




Fig. 13. — Phosphorescent Sea at Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope. 



fHOSFUORESCESClJ OF SVA WN. 5<J 

ph!iresc(Mit liy agitation. Pressed in the hand, 
the mass of globules made a sliglit crackling, 
like that ol" snow pressed between the fingers 
After remaining about twelve hours in a vessel 
it smelt like stinking fish, and was no longer 
phosphorescent, in which respect it differed from 
other organic matters which become phosphorescent 
when they putrefy. Su(^h was the matter which, 
as the waves in which it floated \vashed the shore, 
broke out in vivid flashes like lightning. This com- 
parison was suggeste 1 to me by the clearness with 
which it lighted up the chamber that I and my com- 
panions occupied in the house of Mr. Bull, though 
it was situated more than fifty yards distant from 
the breakers : I even attempted to write by the 
light, but the flashes were of too short duration. 
The greatest part of this matter was eventually 
thrown up on the coast, where it putrefied, and spread 
far and wide a stinking odour." 

Molluscs, of very small size, swimming in large 
numbers on the surface of the sea, communicate to 
it an artificial colouring. This appearance might be 
attributed to any cause whatsoever — for example, to 
mud, or any mineral matters held in solution. But, 
independently of the microscope, which reveals the 
structure of these beings, and of the appearances 
presented when the substance is burnt, and the smell 



60 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

as of burnt liorn which it diffuses, there is no 
difficulty in determining- the animal or vegetable 
nature of surh colouring-matter, when it forms 
banks of considerable extent, far from any coast, 
and in deep sea-bottoms. The following examples, 
from M. de Tessan's account of the physical facts 
observed during the voyage of the Venus, will give 
an idea of these phenomena : — 

" Latitude 21° 50' N. ; longitude 19° 48' W.— We 
had sounded a depth of about 1600 feet, when it 
was observed that the colour of the sea suddenly 
changed. It had become a dirty yellowish-greeii. 
We took a fresh sounding, and niark» d more than 
3000 feet without reaching the bottom. The water 
brouo^ht to the surface contained nothing: remarkable 
but a number of very small transparent molluscs, 
not more tlian the four-hundredth part of an inch in 
length, and with yellow stomachs. It was, peihaps, 
to the existence of large numbers of these little 
animals in the deeper water, that the accidental 
colouring was due. However, as the locality in 
question was only about 50 leagues eastward from 
Cape Blanfo, on the coast of Africa, the change might 
be due to a river debouching somewhere thereabouts. 
The coloured band was not above two leagues in 
extent." 

The Venus fell in with another yellowish- 



rilOiSVllOUESCF.NCE OF ANIMALCULM. Gl 

coloured band in the JSoutheni Atlantic Ocean. 
Again, in the Pacific Ocean, going from Valparaiso 
to Callao, the port of Lima, the sea assumed a deep 
olive-green colour, owing to a thin mud or slime 
which it held in suspension : — 

'- Latitude 13° 50' S. ; longitude TG'^ 51' W.— During 
the watch, we had remarked an extraordinary colour 
in the water of the sea ; the tint had changed to a 
deep olive-green. On the 22nd of May, the plum- 
met found bottom at less than 700 feet, and made us 
aware of the fact that the mud was of the same 
co'our, but of a clearer tint. The commander, M. 
Dupetit-Thouars, by means of dredging, brought up 
a considerable quantity of the same mud, of which 
some samples were retained. The substance is al- 
most impalpable, and has no odour in its natural 
state ; but when calcined, it diffuses a strc^ng odour, 
like that of burnt animal matter, and leaves a con- 
siderable quantity of a whitish-grey ash. Even the 
surfac(^-^^ater contained this matter in suspension, for 
the ship's hull at the water-mark was covered with 
a thin layer of it. It was evidently to this matter 
that the sea was indebted for its deep olive-green 
colouring, the permanence of which in these lati- 
tudes, notwithstanding the strength of the cunent 
which carries the waters northward, is a curious fact. 
Are we to su])i)(!se that the tropical heat penetrating 



fi2 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

the immense volume of polar water* gives birth to 
these microscopic animalculse ?" 

In the same latitudes, with a bottom of more than 
5000 feet, the sea presented the same tint, and 
yielded the same animalculse. It would appear as if 
the great Peruvian current, just alluded to, was 
filled with them. The same phenomenon was ob- 
served as the frigate approached New Zealand, 
where it arrived in the month of October. 

In the polar regions, seamen often observe green 
bands of considerable extent, and extremely well 
defined. They are found to enclose myriads of 
medusae. These animals have a yellowish tint, which 
combines with the blue of the sea to produce a green 
colour. 

Enormous masses of microscopic animals floating 
on the surface of the sea near Cape Palmas, were 
traversed by Tuckey, whose shipvseemed to swim in 
milk. Other navigators have observed zones of a red 
colour, like carmine, in the Great Ocean. The cause of 
this phenomenon is analogous to those already related. 
It is owing to an immense number of animalculse, or 
of microscopic algse, floating near the surface. 

Besides these minute bodies, sea-water holds in 



* The great ocean-current flowing from the antarctic pole towards 
the equator, and known as the whaling-ground of the southern 
seas. — See Maury's 9th Plate. — Tb. 



COLOUR OF THE OCEAN. G3 

suspension many vegetable species, animals of various 
strange forms and every size, and a great mass of 
inde.^^cribable debris washed away from the coasts. 
Too often also the troubled waters toss to and fro the 
broken remains of sliips destroyed by the tempests 
which in certain regions are of frequent occurrence. 

5. Colour of Sea-water — To what extent influenced by matters held 
in suspension, by the Bottom of the Sea, and by the agitation 
of the Water. 

What is the colour of sea water ? Captain Scoresby 
likens the general aspect of glacial seas to the blue 
of the deep ocean. Tiie finest indigo, or celestial 
blue, represents, according to M. Costoz, tlie colour 
of the Mediterranean. The Atlantic has displayed 
to the eyes of Captain Tuckey a tint so rich, that he 
has tried to satis. 'y his sense of poetical justice by 
calling it a living azure. Taking a hint from these 
various expressions, we are disposed to think the sea 
has the same colour as fresh water running from a 
bed of snow or a glacier. When the quantity is 
small, such water indeed appears to be colourless ; but 
when a great volume of it is seen, it assumes a 
beautiful blue colour. 

The Ocean always presents this reflected blue, more 
or less deep in tint — that is to say, more or le^s 
mingled with white light — if the causes already 



64 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

enumerated do not modify it in various ways, and 
if the bottom of the sea itself does not further 
complicate the phenomena n by su|)erim] osing upon 
the colour of the water its own reflected hue. 

If the bottom be of a more intense colour than the 
sea, its reflected hue will not be much affected. 
Thus, while a yellowish sand will change the tint of 
the blue water to green, a very bright yellow will 
make the water itself appear of that tint, because the 
lesser intensity of the blue does not affect the yellow 
sufficiently to make a green. Tuckey observed, at 
Loai)go, that the sea was of the colour of blood ; 
the bottom was very red. In other places, where 
the bottom might be of a similar but less lively 
colour, the sea would not appear red, but orange, or 
even yellow. 

The influence of the bottom on the tint of the sea 
would appear to be limited to those cases in which 
the depth is very slight. In fact, the water of the 
sea absorbs so rapidly the rays of light, that in no 
great degree of thickness it becomes opaque. There 
are, indeed, instances which seem to imply the con- 
trary. Among other observations, the following, 
made by M. de Tessan near Cape Agulhas, on the; 
southern coast of Africa, seems to show, that even in 
the case of great depths the bottom may have a 
sensible influence on the colour of the water : — -^'The 



EEFLECTIO^ IHUM THE SEA-IiOTTOM. G.' 

sea," be says, " has very sensibly elianged in colour 
since our arrival upon the bank of Cape Agullias this 
morninu^. As we are sailing in the direction of 
the current, which bears us rapidly along, this varia- 
tion of tint cannot be ascribed to the colouring of the 
water itself. We are compelled to conclude that it 
is the effect of the colour of the sea-bottom, the 
yellowish tint of which, traversing the water, and 
mingling with its normal blue, produces the greenish 
hue that we have observed." As the depth is 
between 600 and 700 feet at this point, the solar 
light reflected from the bottom had traversed about 
1300 feet of water without being extinguished ; since, 
on being reflected back to the surface, it was still so 
intense as to influence the colour of the water. 

The contradiction between this fact and the theory, 
is only in appearance. Let two surfaces — the one 
bright, but small in extent; the other less bright, 
but of much laro^er size — be viewed throuo^h an im- 
perfectly diaphanous body. Then let them be re- 
moved to a distance simultaneously, and it will be 
found that for a considerable time after the small 
bright surface has disappeared, the larger and duller 
will be visible. It is easy to perceive that the 
colouring of the sea, as witnessed at Cape Agulhas, 
is a phenomenon of the same kind. The bank is a 
surface of very considerable extent, feebly illuminated, 

F 



66 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

and is seen from a great distance, by its reflected light, 
through an imperfectly diaphanous medium. 

To appreciate correctly the colour of the sea-bottom, 
we must be on our guard against a very common illu- 
sion. Why should a white sand change the colour of 
the water, or affect it otherwise than with a slight 
tint of white ? To answer this question, we must re- 




Fig. 14. — Incidence of the Rays of Light on a Calm Sea. 

member that sand is white when it is taken out of the 
water and dried. If we throw upon it rays of red, or 
green, or any other coloured light, the sand will appear 
of that colour. Water seen by reflection appeai-s 
blue ; seen by transparency, it appears greeii. As 
the sand at the bottom of the sea receives a green 



COLOUli OF THE WAVES. 



67 



light, it cannot appear white, and the greenish tint 
which it presents raingles with that of the water. 
In a word, it is necessary in all cases to remember 
that the bottom of the sea receives a green light, and 
not the white light which falls upon the surface. 

When the suriace of the sea loses its uniformity 
the foregoing remarks cease to be aj){)licable. Un- 




Fig. 15. — Incidence of the Rays of Light on the Waves of the Sea. 



dnlations or waves cause light which has traversed 
the water to reach the eye of the observer at the same 
time as the light reflected from it. The former is 
that which falls on the anterior part of a wave, and. 
being reflected, traverses the superior part of the wave 
following before reaching the eye. This transmitted 
light is green. If it <]ominntes the reflected light, 



68 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

which is blue, the wave will appear greenish-yellow. 
Further, it is obvious that the different orientations 
of the wave relative to the position of the sun must 
contribute, as much as its changes of form, to vary 
the play of light. This optic property of the waves 
enables us to recognise afar off a change in the wind, 
as it produces a different tint in the changing surface 
of the sea. 



6. Measure of Temperature at the Bottom of the Sea. 

The attempt to ascertain the temperature at the 
bottom of the sea at any given time is surrounded 
with as many difficulties as the procuring of water 
from certain depths. The thermometer is subjected 
not merely to the influence of temperature, but to the 
pressure of the water by which it is environed. Of 
slight importance when the depth is inconsiderable, 
this pressure becomes enormous when the descent is 
measured by thousands of yards. 

M. Despretz has proposed to leave the thermo- 
meter open, in such a manner that the pressure would 
be sustained both by the interior and the exterior ol 
the tube. It is generally preferred to enclose the in- 
strument in some very solid envelope, and close it 
hermetically. This envelope, formed of iron or cop- 
per, is a good conductor of heat. The thermometer 



TEMP Eli ATUIib: OF THK i>EA. i'S 

which it protects will, therefore, soon indicate an 
equilibrium of temperature between itself and the 
surrounding water. 

The temperature of the deeper waters is not the 
same as that of the superficial mass. It is therefore 
'lecessary to employ instruments, so constructed as to 
keep a record of the extreme temperatures through 
which they are passed. To effect this, P^ron en- 
closed the instrument in a tube made of a substance 
that \Aas a bad conductor of heat. This apparatus, 
being immersed for a sufficiently long time, at lengtli 
acquired the temperature of the water that surrounde I 
it, and being quickly withdrawn, there was no time 
for the heat to escape before the indication was read off. 

Bunten has attained the same en«1, by inventing what 
he calls the '* Thermometer Plunger." The instru- 
ment is put into a tube closed by a valve, which opens 
from the exterior to the interior ; thus allowing the 
water of the sea to enter, but preventing it from re- 
turning when the apparatus is withdrawn. The ther- 
mometer, therefore, is brought to the surface sur- 
rounded with sea-water; but it is easy to see that we 
cannot be sure of the depth from which the water is 
taken, as in the case of Peron's instrument. Finally, 
the thermometer is not protected from the pressure 
of the v\ater. Bunten's Plunger, therefore, is not 
available for deep thermometric soundings. 



70 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Perhaps the best metho 1 discovered up to the pre- 
sent time consists in enclosing one of Walferdin's 
metastatic thermometers in a strong box of wrought- 
iron or copper, noting on the return of the instrument 
the lowest temperature that it has marked. Some- 
times, however, the box will be found crushed. 



7. DimiuisheJ Temperatuie of the Sea in proportion to the Deptii 
— Irregularities introduced in this law by the influence of Sub- 
m.iriiie Currents -Temperature at the Bottom of the Ocean 
constant and uniform— Principal causes of Subm trine Currents. 

The temperature of the atmosphere diminishes m 
the degree that we ascend above the level of the sea ; 
that of the sea generally diminishes in the degree 
that we descend below its surface. It varies but little 
from day to night, and even from season to season. 
At no great depth it ceases to vary at all. 

The surface is hottest at the equator; it is frozen 
at the poles. Between these extreme latitudes there 
is a succession of diminishing temperatures, but they 
are far from decreasing in regular gradation from the 
ecjuator to the poles. The water is influenced by 
marine currents, which have the effect of masking the 
otherwise regular law of decrease. 

The law which varies the temperature according to 
the depth is also complicated by accidental causes. 
Often marine currents flow one above another — the 



TKMPIJtATUliE OF THE SEA. 7 J 

one being cold, the otlier hot ; their directions also 
cross each other in a thousand ways. There may thus 
be many successive beds or strata of currents, their 
density in each case being the greater in proportion 
to the depth from the surface at which they are situ- 
ated. As a proof that such different currents really 
exist, it may suffice to mention the suddenness with 
which the thermometer varies after passing thiough 
a certain depth of water, and tlien continues constant 
while the plummet descends through a lower bed. 

Thermometric soundings have marked a tempera- 
ture of 41^ Fahr. in the latitude of 43° and 37° under 
the equator, at the same depth, of somewhat less than 
6,000 feet. This agrees with the direction of the sub- 
marine currents, coming resjjectively from the poles 
and from tlie equator. In the torrid zone between 
33° and 34° Fahr. have been indicated at a depth ot 
12,000 feet, whilst the temperature at the surface was 
about 80° Fahr. This result will be thought less sur- 
prising if we bear in mind that while fresh-water 
attains its maximum density at 39° 5' j: j... ., average 
sea-water does not arrive at its degree of maximum 
density until it passes its freezing-point (27° IJ') and 
reaches the temperature of 25° 6. 

As sea- water is not easily penetrated by the rays 
of the sun, it keeps pretty nearly at the temperature 
of the locality where it has been detained for any 



72 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

length of time. Thii^ the play of the polar waters 
makes itself known to the mariner by a fall in the 
temperature of the sea, and the eqnatorial currents 
carry with them into the arctic zones a warm and 
grateful reminiscence of the sunny climes from which 
they have descended. 

In general, the density of a current is in inverse 
proportion to its degree of heat, and accordingly, 
overlying currents show a decreasing temperature 
according to their depth. But in the polar seas this 
is not so. The temperature there increases with the 
depth, within certain limits, and thus assists in fusing 
the lower part of the ice. To account for this 
anomaly, snow and ice are bad conductors of heat. 
Farmers and gardeners are well acquainted with the 
fact that a covering of snow keeps the earth warm in 
winter. The effect of ice in the arctic regions is similar. 
It has been proved by thermo metric observations that, 
at a surface temperature of 52° below zero (Fahr.), 
the water under a bed of ice thiity-two feet thick re- 
mained relatively hot, its temperature not liaving 
descended below 28° 4' Fahr. 

Thus sea-water is hottest near the surface in the 
neiglibourhood of the equator, while in the arctic 
regions it is hottest at a certain depth, and coldest in 
its upper stratum. The temperature of the sea-bottom 
is, however, uniform over all the world, and differs 



TEMrERATi'RE OF TILE MEUITEUIIANEAN. 73 

little from 32^ Fahr., or five degress above its freezing- 
[)oiiit. 

In the case of landlocked seas there is not this great 
difference between the temperature of the surface and 
of the lower strata. The Mediterranean, for example, 
receives the surface- w^aters of the ocean through the 
Straits of Gibraltar, whilst its deeper waters flow out- 
wards.* Consequently, it is the heated water of the 
ocean wdiich penetrates into this interior sea; and the 
action of the sun being upon a closed basin, so to 
speak, and by far more constant than upon tlie ocean, 
which is traversed by the polar w aters rushing in a 
mighty torrent to sun themselves in the toi'rid zone, 
the bottom of the "Mediterranean cannot possibly be 
so cold as the bottom of the ocean itself. The Red 
Sea presents the same phenomena, in this respect, as 
the Mediterranean. The currents of Babelmandeb 
are analagous to those of Gibraltar. The Eed Sea is 
one of the hottest expanses of water on the globe. 
Life pulsates in every corner and recess of it, and 

* A very curious incident first suggested the existence of a sub- 
marine current in the Straits of Gibraltar. A corsair brig sunk in 
sight of Ceuta, and disappeared. At thio point the current runs 
very strong, and, of eouise, from we.^t to ea<t. What then was the 
surprise of everybody to see the brig reappear some time afterwards 
many leagues we&twarJ of the point wliere she had sunk ! It u 
plain that the vessel must have been drifted to that point by a sub- 
marine current running in the contrary direction to the current on 
tiie^suriace 



74 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

there the polypi erect their most gigantic ramparts 
of stone. 

If we were to sink a well on the shore to the depth 
of 12,000 feet, the temperature at its bottom would 
be about 300° Fahr. Yet we have just seen that the 
temperature at the bottom of the sea is nearly con- 
stant at 32°. This fact is sufficient to prove that the 
water of the ocean exercises an immense influence on 
the distribution of temperature over the surface of 
the earth. 

The Ocean is in turn affected by heat, even to its 
lowest abysses. Inequalities of temperature and of 
saltness give birth to currents both on its surface 
and in its depths. The former, however, are more 
generally due to the action of the constant winds. 
By-and-by we shall have to consider the actio/i 
exercised by currents upon their bed. 



8. Cause of \\ aves — Their Height — Thickness of the Mass of Water 
in motion — Ground-swells — '' Eaz de Maree" — Waves of Trans- 
lation — Measure of a Wave of Translation, and of its Speed, in 
the Pacific Ocean — Tides — Ke'sume. 

When winds have not the constancy of the Trades, 
they force the surface of the sea into heaps, and 
plough it in furrows more or less deep : in a word, 
they cause waves. This movement of the water does 
not extend to any considerable depth. 



HEIGHT OF WAVES. 7s 

The highest wave observed by M. de Tessan, during 
the voyage of the Venus^ measured about 24 feet 
from its crest to the bottom of its cavity. The great- 
est height aihnitted by Humboldt, and at a distance 
from any coast, is 37 feet. As to the mass of water set 
in motion, observations were made by M. Siau, in St. 
Paul's Bay, Isle of Bourbon, which seem to show that 
it does not exceed a thickness of 600 feet. But the 
height of the wave is supposed to furnish a clue to the 
depth of the agitation it causes. Weber concluded, 
from his celebrated experiments, that every wave 
propagates its motion to a depth of about 350 times 
its own height. If so, a wave only 6 feet in height 
would stir the North Sea to its lowest abysses, while 
a wave 30 feet high would make itself felt to a depth 
of 10,000 feet. However this may be, we know that 
the movement becomes very feeble even at a slight 
depth, and it must soon become altogether insensible, 
even if it continues to extend itself, because Weber 
himself has demonstrated that it decreases in geo- 
metrical proportion according to the depth. 

So long as a wave extends its motion downwards 
in a deep place, it produces no effect on the soil. 
Let it, hoAvever, wash against a bank or a shore, and 
it begins to play a part well worthy of observation. 
Sometimes, in combination with Iccal currents, it 
produces very curious phenomena. For example. 



76 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

near Callao, the port of Lima, a considerable dike of 
rolled stones parallel to the shore has been tliiown up. 
Its height in some parts is nearly 20 feet. On the 
landward side it is steepest, and on the other descends 
towards the sea with a gentle slope ; the rolled 
stones of which it is composed are spherical or oval 
in shape. To account lor its existence, there is, at 
some distance off, between Callao and Moro-Solar, a 
cliff, which measures some 140 leet in height. Its 
base is incessantly battered and eaten away by the 
waves, and the debris is carried away northward 
by the current. In this remarkable instance the 
current transports the materials of which the dike is 
constructed, and the waves build them up. 

Where a marine current passes over a level bottom 
and comes to a gentle slope, its speed is a little ac- 
celerated by reason of the confinement of its bed; 
but this increased speed is lost again when the ob- 
stacle has been passed. The case is different if the 
bottom of the sea, instead of becoming gradually 
higher, rises abruptly. A wave is then produced, 
which propagates itself under the water, and causes 
what is known as a giound-swell. This wave aug- 
menxs as it approaches the shore, and, advancing 
rapidly, breaks in a mass of foam which escapes from 
beneath the liquid bulk. If the shore be steep, it hurls 
itself against it, and throws an immense head of foam 



KA CK OF THE TIDE 7? 

to a great height. Tliere is a rock in the Marianne 
Isles known as '' Lot*s Wife," which stands o50 feet 
above its base, yet the foam is thrown to its summit. 

Mr. Scott Kussell has testified from experience, 
that an abrupt rise in the bottom of the sea (under 
the circumstances alluded to above) causes an eleva- 
tion of the water over that particular spot. The rise 
of the water is as abrupt as that of the sea-bottom, 
and a ship passing over it experiences a shock so 
violent as to induce the belief that it has struck on 
a rock. This fact is familiar to observers accustomed 
to cross the sea, and there can be no mistake as to 
the occasional violence of the shock, when we recall 
that a whaler was dismasted by this cause on the 
coast of Chili, in 1837. 

Sometimes, particularly in the neighbourhood of 
the Antilles, a tumultuous movement of the sea is pro- 
duced near the coast, whilst everywhere else within 
the field of immediate observation there is a perfect 
calm. This phenomenon is always connected either 
with a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake, or the pas- 
sage of a cyclone at some distance. An experience 
related by Dr. Rooke as having occurred to him at 
the Sandwich Islands is a striking example of the 
Baz de Maree (Race of the Tide) caused by an earth- 
quake and a volcanic eruption. His account of the 
phenomenon is substantially as follows : — 



78 THE BOTTOM OF THE ;SEA. 

On the 7th of November, 1837, during fine weather, 
and in the absence of any perceptible shock of eartli- 
quake, the sea was ail at once moved in an extraor- 
dinary manner. Eirst, it retired so great a distance 
from the shore as to leave the reef which surrounds 
the island (Maui) dry. The inhabitants, fearing no 
harm, collected on the reef to gather up the fish 
which tiie sea had left on retiring, and vvere merrily 
engaged in this occupation when, after some moments 
of repose, the sea suddenly returned with extreme 
rapidity, and, advancing like a wall, engulfed every 
living being. The phenomenon was not everywhere 
accompanied by events so tragic. Even at Honolulu, 
where Dr. Eooke himself observed it, the movement 
of the sea was not nearly so considerable : neverthe- 
less, all the time that it lasted the mean level of the 
sea was everywhere about five feet lower than 
ordinary. The conclusion is that the island itself 
was lifted, bodily, five feet above the position it habit- 
ually occupied, and to which it returned. 

While the sea, and as we suppose the land, were 
thus strangely moved, tiie volcano of Mauna-Kea, in 
the island of Maui, gave manifest signs of increased 
activity. At this very time also the inhabitants of Aca- 
pulco, situated to the east under the same parallel, were 
kept in perpetual fear by undulating movements of 
the earth, which came from the direction of the west. 




Fig. 16. — Rising of the Sea at Acapulco. 



KAUrilQUAKE WAVES. SI 

]^]arthquakes are always accoirjpanied, on the 
coasts, by movements of the sea more or less con- 
siderable, and it is this part of the phenomenon which 
has caused the greatest disasters. Totlie movement 
of the sea, again, is added a temporary or permanent 
change of its level. 

During the earthquake of 1820 the level of the 
sea at Acapulco remained during two hours at about 
30 feet below the points of the coast which corre- 
sponded wdth its ordinary level. A part of the road- 
stead was left dry. After two hours the sea returned, 
and rose from four to five yards above its ordinary 
level — that is to say, from 40 to 45 feet above the 
point to which it had receded : it then oscillated 
about its ordinary position, and finally resumed its 
old relative level. There can be no doubt that the 
soil of Acapulco was itself raised during this two 
hours to the height mentioned, and afterwards settled 
down again as described. The effect of the raz de 
maree was terrible. The sea, resuming possession of 
its bed, advanced upon the land like a wall with ex- 
treme rapidity; and then, overleaping its ancient 
limits by the impetus of its return, overthrew what- 
ever opposed its progress, and destroyed a part of 
the city. 

Similar movements of the sea accompanied the 
earthquake which destroyed Talcaguana, on the coast 

G 



82 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

of Chili ; only in this case tlie soil remained elevated 
some five or six feet above its former position. After 
the earthquake which destroyed Old Callao, on the 
contrary, the soil was found to be permanently 
lowered some four or five feet. The effect of the 
raz de maree was similar to the preceding. 

It is obvious that earthquakes which extend under 
the ocean must stir the waters to their most profound 
depths. They give rise to a phenomenon which has 
been named by Mr. Scott Russell the " Wave of 
Translation." He has demonstrated that the move- 
ment of the water is as great at the bottom of the 
sea as at its surface — a fact that has been verified by 
the transport of ol)jects that were lying at the bot- 
tom. Further, the wave advances by forming a 
swelling on the surface without breaking like other 
waves, and its speed of propagation is proportional to 
the square root of the depth. If its course be ob- 
structed by an abrupt elevation of the sea-bottom, 
its effects will be exaggerated and complicated with 
those of the ground-swell. As it reaches the shore it 
produces the raz de maree. 

Lisbon was destroyed on the 1st of November, 
1755, by the most violent and most extended earth- 
quake on record. The shock was felt on the same 
day ovei the North Atlantic Ocean; between Spain, 
the Antilles, and Newfoundland ; in Canada • in Great 



EARTUQVAKE WAVES. 8:t 

Britain ; on the coasts of Sweden and tlie shores of 
the Baltic; in Germany, Switzerland, Italy; and in 
the North of Africa. It was accompanied by a liuge 
wave of translation, that swept the coasts of Spain, 
and attained, at Cadiz, a height of 60 feet. It inun- 
dated the ports of Madeira. A vast bulk of water 
rushed violently into the marketplace of a city in 
Ireland (Kinsale). The sea rose and fell at Tangier ; 
and, though the soil was not deranged, an extraor- 
dinary movement was perceptible in England, both 
in the waters of the interior and on the seacoasts. 

On the 23rd of December, 1854, at a quarter be- 
fore 10 in the morning, the Russian frigate Diana 
felt several shocks at the entrance of the Bay ol 
Simoda, in Japan. At 10 o'clock a huge wave over- 
whelmed the city. A second wave immediately fol- 
lowed the first, and when it retired every house was 
found to be thrown down. The frigate, after striking 
several times, foundered on the shore. Some hours 
later, at a distance of nearly 5,000 miles, waves of 
an unusual height broke upon the shores of Cali- 
fornia. During the intermediate time the same 
phenomenon had been observed in the islands of the 
Pacific : thus, in a few hours, the waves had traversed 
the Great Ocean. By comparing the various obser- 
vations, it was ascertained that the breadth of each 
wave was about 250 miles, and its velocity about 440 



84 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

miles an hour. The mean depth of the ocean be- 
tween Japan and California is from 12,000 to 13,000 
feet. 

Again, as the tides are movements produced in the 
great mass of the waters, they are likely to cause 
certain effects on the bottoms of seas which it would 
be useful to ascei-tain. But that action takes place 
near the surface, and is difficult to distinguish from 
tlie effects of the waves. 

All the causes of the agitation of the sea are ex- 
terior to it. However far their influence extends, we 
may yet conceive that a limit exists beyond which it 
ceases to produce itself. The '' waves of translation " 
alone heave up the ocean from its lowest depths ; 
but th's phenomenon only takes place in connection 
with earthquakes, and is, happily, of rare and but 
momentary occurrence. 

Marine currents extend to a great depth; they 
sweep through the ocean one above another, and it 
has been proved, by the soundings made during the 
last few years, that their effects extend, we may al- 
most say, to the lowest deeps. It has been ascer- 
tained that in certain regions they are sensible at 
from 10,000 to 12,000 feet from 'the surface. It is 
certain, however, that their course is less violent in 
proportion to their depth ; and in the deepest recesses 
of the ocean, if any movement could be supposed to 



A REGION OF PERFECT STILLNESS. 85 

exist, it would he insensible. There is a region, ol 
which we cannot define the limits, which enjoys a 
perfect calm, and if any displacement occurs it is 
that which results from slow and imperceptible 
molecular motion. The temperature of that region 
is very nearly the same over all parts of the globe, 
and its .«altness is considerable. There also reigns 
the most profound obscurity ; and life, constrained in 
its development by the absence of light, the insuffi- 
cient supply of oxygen, and the great quantity of 
carbonic acid contained in the water, ceases at last 
altogether, probably as it does in the aerial atmo- 
sphere at a height exceeding 26,000 feet. The study 
of that calm and perhaps lifeless region is not, 
however, uninteresting. By means of soundings we 
are able to ascertain, in some measure, what is 
passing there ; an 1 if we avail ourselves of these 
facts, aided by the science of the geologist, it will 
not be difficult to infer from them some curious de- 
tails concerning the histoiy of the globe. 



86 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



DEPOSITS IN COURSE OF FORMA HON AT THE 
BOTTOMS OF SEAS. 



1, Universality of the process of Sedimentation — General view of 
the Mechanism of this Phenomenon. 

From the solid rock to the smallest particle of slime, 
fmm the monstrous whale to the microscropic infu- 
sorise, from the algse and the polypus to the tower- 
ing denizen of the forest and the bird which hovers 
high above it in the air, the Geogenic Basin (a term 
which will be presently explained) absorbs all. The 
work of sedimentation is universal. 

In order the better to comprehend this pheno- 
menon we will follow it through some of its various 
phases. The rock which forms the culminating- 
point of the highest mountains flies into splinters 
when subjected, as in winter, to sudden changes of 
temperature ; or, if not, it yields slowly to the con- 
stant action of atmospheric agencies, and, broken 
up by continually increasing fissures, rolls its debris 
into the bed of a torrent. The troubled water 
breaks furiously against the obstruction, and grinds 



SEDTM EX Tyi TION. 67 

tlie frag 111 en ts to pi(H'e^ one against another. On 
reachinii: the jJaiiis, these broken and partially- 
rounded pieces are washed into the comparatively 
quiet current of a river, and in course of time, by 
tlie constant motion of the water and the attrition 
caused by it, assume the character of pebbles. The 
river slowly carries the pebbles towards the sea, and 
all the time their size is diminishing. Instead of 
pebbles they become gravel ; the particles of gravel, 
still diminishing in size, become sand ; and the sand 
— more especially if the river be of any considerable 
width — tends to choke its bed. The rem. 'dial aetion 
of the river is to carry the sand, and the broken 
earth washed from its banks, down to the sea, where 
it deposits them, at a distance more or less great 
from its embouchure, according to the weight or 
tenuity of the particles and the strength of the cur- 
rent. Finally, the smaller stones are thrown upon 
the shore, the sands are deposited farther off in 
the sea, and the lii^ht mud is carried away and 
slowly deposited at a still greater distance. The 
muddy water of the Amazon is distinguishable at 
sea nearly a hundred miles from the embouchure 
of the river. 

The rocks of the seashore also yield their tribute 
to the bottom of the sea, and assist very materially 
to fill up the deeper abysses, the slow and continual 




88 THE BOTTOM^OF THE SEA. 

rising of which must seriously modify the aspect of 
our globe. Stormed without ceasing by the waves, 
the most iron-bound coast must gradually give way, 
but with results which vary according to the nature 
and formation of the coast-line. 

The heavier debris is naturally disposed to con- 
tinue its descent till it reaches the greatest depths. 
The action of gravitation is, in this respect, favoured 
by the action of the currents. We have explained 
in a previous chapter that the crust of the globe is, 
so to speak, ploughed up in furrows, the sides of 
which combine to form basins or cavities which are 
separated trom each other by i idges of rock more or 
less sharply set. In geographical science these fur- 
rows are, one and all, regarded as the basins of rivers. 
The waters flowing in them naturally tend to the 
lower parts, and in those lower parts they combine 
to form perhaps a single current. This current flows 
down to a still lower level — that of the sea. Nor 
even here does the ( onfoimation lose its character 
of a furrow or basin. We follow it under the sea 
until we have descended so deep that we seem to 
have reached a central point from which it is impos- 
sible to advance in any direction without reascend- 
ing. Using this lowest point as a centre, we draw a 
line around it at a greater or less distance, and that 
ine indicates the circumference of what we have 



[VEARING AWAY OF THE COASTS. >.'J 

called a geogenic hasiii, to distinguish it from a 
geograi^ldc basin. 

Thus, the basins of th<^ Rhone, the Ebro, tiie 
Arno, tlie Tiber, and several other rivers, all com- 
bine to form one vast geogenic basin. The Tyrrhe- 
nian Sea is one of the divisions of this great basin, 
the Gulf of Lyons is another, that of Genoa a third. 

2. Action of Waves upon the Coasts — Destruction of Ruck-bound 
Shores by the Sea — Pierced Rocks — Silting-up of Shallow 
Waters by Marine Alluvium. 

In the case of a steep shore the erosive action of 
the sea is considerable. It beats against the rocky 
barrier with all its force. The base of the cliff, in- 
cessantly attacked by the waves, is of course eaten 
away with a rapidity proportioned to the ease with 
which the matter of the rock can be disintegrated. 
The upper part of the cliffy though not subjected 
to the direct action of the waves, falls forward, and 
occasionally forms deep rocky caverns such as we 
see at Bonifacio. At length the superincumbent and 
tottering mass falls into the sea. If the depth be 
great, or the current strong, the accumulated debris 
is swept away, and the action of the waves against 
the broken cliff is continued with undiminished in- 
tensity. In this manner entire promontories have 
been destroyed; even within th;^ historic pv-riod, the 



90 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



Straits of Gibraltar have been enlarged by this pro- 
cess. If, on the other hand, the depth be slight at 
the base of the cliff, the force of the waves is broken 
by the opposing rampart of lallen stones, the shore 
is preserved from destruction, and it is only at some 




Fig. 17 — Waves breaking against a Kock-bound Coast. 

distance from the self-formed talus that the rolled 
stones are, in the course of ages, carried away by the 
currents of the ocean. 

The foot of the cliff marks the level of the sea. 
If this level be chang;ed from anv cause, the cliff will 



FOh'.MATloy OF CAVERNS. !)1 

be tormcci anew in accordance with it. In seas of 
little extent, sndi as the Mediterranean or Caspian, 
and at those points of the ocean where the ti(hil 
elevation is bat small, the cliff will consist of but 
one simple escarpment. When, liowever, the differ- 
enae between the level of high and low water is 
considerable, as in the English Channel and other 
narrow passages, there will be found a second cliff 
corresponding with the level of low-water. 

Many marine caverns have been formed by the 
erosive action of the sea upon massive beds of 
basalt. Tliis rock is the product of ancient volcanic 
eruptions, the volcanic matter having separated 
itself into prismatic columns in the process of cool- 
ing. The t-ea, by its reiterated assaults through 
a long lapse of time, causes the lower beds of basalt, 
which are the most exposed to the lury of the waves, 
to yield first. Thus are formed caves, or sometimes 
extended galleries and halls, of which the Cave of 
Fingal is a beautiful example. 

The erosive action of waves is slower when the 
rock is in horizontal beds. In such cases the water 
rolls over the inclined surface until its course is 
arrested, and in its return it breaks the force of the 
next approaching wave. 

A striking effect of the erosive action of the sea is 
buown in the phenomenon, so frequently met witli, ai 



92 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

pierced rocks. Sometimes they are found isolated 
in mid-ocean ; sometimes they are united to the land, 
or only separated by narrow, and perhaps tortuous, 
channels. Let us hear what M. de Tessan has to 
say, in the work already quoted, of the manner in 
which waves act upon such rocks : — 

"Lat. 25° 0-9' N".; long. 120° 76' W.— We have 
passed very near the Alijos Kocks, which are "still 
marked as doubtful in some charts. The highest of 
them rises about 150 I'eet above the sea. It is 
pierced through in the direction from south-east to 
north-west. This phenomenon of pierced rocks oc- 
curs most often when the rocks are composed of 
superimposed beds, of no great thickness, and not 
well compacted one with another, it is to be ex- 
plained by the action of the billows ; in fact, their 
most destructive effect is produced upon the perpen- 
dicular face of the rock, about the middle of its 
elevation, and in the direction in which the waves 
strike against it. The rock of course has a tendency 
to crumble away at that point more than elsewhere, 
and if its composition be such that it cannot resist 
the incessant shock of the waves, an excavation 
necessarily results. The hollow, once formed, be- 
comes itself the cause of an increased destructive 
effect on the action of the waves. Gliding along 
the sides of the excavation, thev strike with re- 



PIERCED ROCKS. On 

doubled speed upon its bottom, where the former 
debris of the rock, dashed about with immense force, 
helps also to break up the rock and make fresh 
debris. In this way the depth of the excavation 
increases, its sides are enlarged, and at last dayliglit 



Fig. 18. — Rocks worn through by tlie Waves, 

is let in from the other side. To produce this result, 
however, the rock must not be too thick, because 
there is obviously a limit in the depth of the exca- 
vation at which the wave loses its force." 



94 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

If the sea struggles victoriously against the land 
when the latter opposes to it some formidable ob- 
stacle, its efforts fail, its force, so to speak, expires 
when there is no such resistance. It batters down 
the rock-bound shore with resistless force ; it flows 
harmlessly over low and sandy flats. Further, the 
debris of the stubborn rock serves to strengthen the 
shifting sands, and to renew the dunes which the 
winds scatter in light clouds of dust. The tidal wave 
spreads out over the level shore, until it has lost 
all its speed, and when it retires it leaves behind it 
on the sands all the materials which it had pushed 
before it as it came in fiom the sea. 



3. Deposits in Mid-ocean, and Deposits on the Coasts— Importance 
to Geologists of Coafrt Deposits as data for fixing the limits of 
Ancient Seas — Deposits of the French Seas. 

It is only from a large number of skilful soundings 
that we have been able to ascertain the character ot 
submarine deposits. Soundings at great depths 
generally indicate the presence of the debris of rocks 
in a state of minute subdivision. To take a single 
example : at a point seventy leagues south of the 
Aleutian Isles, and at a depth of 9000 feet, we detect 
the presence of fine sand and mud. 

The deeper parts of the ocean occur at too great 
a distance from the coasts for the larger and heavier 



DEVOSnS IN DEfJP WATKR. 0:. 

biibstances to be carried clown into those profound 
gulfs by the marine currents. If the remains of 
animals and plants fall directly from the surface 
into such depths, they preserve their forms, however 
delicate, because the calm which reigns in these still, 
mysterious regions allows them to rest undisturbed 
for an indefinite period in the spot they first touch. 
Thus the accumulation of materials is a slow and 
gentle process. They repose quietly in horizontal 
and homogeneous beds, and, as a consequence, produce 
compact and finely-graine 1 rocks. 

On the coasts, and in those parts of the sea which 
ai'e of slight depth, we generally find stones and 
bodies too large to be carried away by the currents. 
The materials thus accumulated are subjected to the 
continual action of the water. They lose their angles, 
and become rounded or oval in form. They are in- 
cessantly worn away and incessantly renewed. The 
result is that coast deposits have neither the same 
regularity nor the same consistency as those of the 
deeper seas. They do not exhibit, like the latter, a 
compact structure, nor do the substances which com- 
pose them display sharp angles and well-preserved 
forms. 

The action of the waves extends to an inconsider- 
able depth from the surface, especially in all ordinary 
times when there is no extreme agitation. The 



y6 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

littoral deposits are, therefore, of comparatively 
slight amount when regarded as to their quantity 
merely, but theoretically they are of the greatest 
importance. An exact knowledge of their character 
often enables the physicist to determine the oscilla- 
tions of the sea, how it has retired from the land or 
encroached upon it, and consequently to what extent 
the terrestrial crust has been affected. The follow- 
ing details are borrowed from a work presented to 
the French Institute, some two years ago, by M. 
Delesse, and which may be described as a complete 
study of the deposits which are being formed in 
our time upon the coasts of France, and of the re- 
lations they bear to currents and marine animals, 
but more particularly to the nature of the rocks 
which form the shore. 

This littoral deposit presents a. mineralogic com- 
position of considerable variety is a level corres- 
ponding to that of high-tide, because it includes the 
debris of the neighbouring cliffs. At the level of 
low tide, on the shores of the Ocean, it is much more 
uniform, and even exhibits a constant character to a 
great extent. Where we find this to be the case, we 
may be sure that, whatever be the character of the 
rocks which concur to form the deposit, the sea is 
not slow to destroy them. The minerals we dis- 
cover are those which offer considerable resistance to 



IJ VTOHAL DEPOSITS. 9'i 

the action of the sea, owing to tlieir luirdiiess or tin 
unalterable nature of their composition. 

The most common of all minerals in tlie littonil 
deposit of France, at the level of low-tide, is trans- 
parent qnartz. It is distribnted in such profusion 
that the deposit is sometimes almost entirely com- 
posed of it. This is to be acfonnted for by its 
extreme hardness and its abundance in th« cliffs. 

The clays are found in the deposit at the botto.m 
of gulfs and retired creeks ; tiiey are carried away 
in the form of mud, and settle down when the sea is 
calm and deep. In some cases wliere beds of clay 
or schist abound on a coast (as at Honfleur), the pro- 
portion of clay contained in the littoral deposit is 
very great. 

Carbonate of lime or chalk is found in very 
variable proportions, and is derived from calcareous 
rocks and the remains of molluscs. In the Mediter- 
ranean il is most abundant when the cliffs are com- 
posed of calcareous rock, as at Nice and Marseilles. 
Its fragments are always well-rounded. On the shores 
of the Ocean, the littoral deposit of lime is small, 
because the movement caused by the tides dissolves 
and disposes of it very rapidly even when it is strong 
or compact. An instance of this may be obsersed 
between Havre and Dunkirk, or, better still, at 
the foot of the Lower Pyrenees. It may even happen 



9.S THE BOTTOM OF THE ^EA 

that the deposit formed on a chalky shore does not 
rontain a trace of calcareous debris. On the Atlantic 
coasts of France the carbonate of lime found in the 
littoral deposit comes almost entirely from the shells 
of molluscs of the existing period. It is composed 
of angular or slightly-rounded fragments, and it 
resists destruction much better than the most com- 
pact limestone. On the other hand, we may see a 
coast without limestone, like that of Brittany, present 
nevertheless a rich littoral c-eposit of carbonate of 
lime, exclusively derived from the debris of shells. 

As we proceed to a distance from the shore, the 
depth of the water increases, and the marine deposit 
changes its physical and chemical properties. Thus, 
the proportion of carbonate of lime grows larger, and 
its particles at the same time diminish in size. On the 
whole, these researches demonstrate that the littoral 
deposit varies in its character with the hydrographic 
basin to which it appertains, and with the coasts, 
above and below the water, upon which it is formed ; 
in the Ocean, on the contrary, it remains pretty con- 
stantly the same over a vast extent of surace.^ 

* Delesse : Becherches sur le depot littoral de la France (Compteji 
Rendus de I'lnstitnt de France, Number for January 28, 18G7, 
pp. 165 et seq.) 



Di:nRTS OF G LAC I KRIS. L»9 

4. Transport and Deposit of I^ocks by Floiitiug Ice. 

When fragments of rock are transported by the 
water, it carries the smaller and lighter sand to a 
greater distance than the heavier, this again to a 
greater distance tlian stones or pebbles, and these 
latter, of course, much forther than great blocks of 
stone. These materials of the earth's crust find also 
a powerful and majestic means of transport in floating 
ice ; but it carries its load without discrimination, 
and deposits fragments of all sizes aiid of every de- 
scription that may chance to be imbedded in its 
mass. During winter we see our rivers covered with 
a sheet of ice : the spring returns, the frozen surface 
is melted, and masses of ice float seaward in dis- 
ordered heaps. This phenomenon constitutes an 
annual break-up. Where the water touches the sliore 
stojies and earth become imbedded in its solidified 
mass. If the river be completely frozen in its whole 
depth (which happens sometimes in northern coun- 
tries), its bed as well as its shores will load the ice with 
debris, which is thus transported to a distance. 

This phenomenon, which we witness once a year, is 
produced on a grand scale in the polar seas. On 
those inhospitable shores the rivers of ice, called 
glaciei's, glide down from, mountain heights into the 
sea, and carrv on their surface, as well a* m tlieii 



100 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

interior, massive fragments of rock, gravel, and dirt. 
Sometimes a mass is detached from the glacier, and, 
floating away into the open sea, is impelled by the 
marine currents and the winds towards the equator. 
On the passage, the shock of one such mass striking 
against another, the action of the waves, and the 
melting of the surface of the ice, destroy the mass, 



Fig. 19. — Section of the Sea and the Sea-bottom in the Track of Icebergs 
between Greenland and Newfoundland. 

and the debris which it carries drops from time to 
time to the bottom of the water. In this manner, 
icebergs perform their part in the work of sedi- 
mentation. 

The deposits formed by icebergs attain in course 
of time to a great thickness The Bank of New- 
foundland appears to have been formed in this way. 



I'OLAJi WE-FIh'LDti. 101 

Every year the cold currents flowing from Baffin's 
Hay (which in strictness sliouhl bo called a sea) visit 
Xiiwfoundland with their imposing freiglit of ice- 
H Ids and frozen mountains. On approaching that 
island they encounter the Gulf Stream, and the 
frozen masses gradually disappear, being eaten away 
by the waters, the heat of which undermines them. 
The earth and fragments of rock which thi^y carry fall 
to the bottom of the sea. 

Every year the warmer cui-rent of the Gulf Stream 
arrests these masses of ice at the same point of their 
track, and causes them to break up and disappear. 
A simple current of water opposes to them an im- 
passable barrier. The debris accumulates year after 
year in the neighbourln)od of Newfoundland without 
ever enterino^ into the Mexican current. VVliat a^jes 
must it have required for this submarine deposit to 
have filled up an abyss to a height of from 20,000 to 
30,000 feet ! 

Thus the influence of the polar ice-fields is so- 
great as to modify, in course of time, the form of the 
earth's surface. This too occurs over a large ex- 
tent of tlie globe, seeing that the ice in the northern 
hemisphere actually attains to the lOth degree of 
latitude, and in the southern hemisphere to the 
liJth degree. 



102 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

i). Water-springs in the Earth — Funnels or Wells of the Jura-^ 
The A veil of the South of France— Katavotron — Sinkholes- 
Geysers — Submarine Springs — Origin of Oolitic Formations. 

Water spread on the earth penetrates to a certain 
distance below the surface. It sinks through sandy 
places, cultivated lands of all kinds, and even through 
the hardest rocks. Fissures are produced in the 
latter by the influence of temperature, and by these 
little channels the water descends into the interior of 
the earth's crust. Limestones favour a cavernous 
structure, and conceal gulfs or pits wbicli are known 
by diiferent names in different countrit^s. These are the 
Funnels or Wells of the Jura, the Sinkholes of Amen ( a, 
the Katavotron of Greece, and tlie Aveii of the South 
of France. Such gulfs may sometimes be found in 
the course of rivers. In a word, by whatever means 
of absorption, the water finds its way into the ter- 
restrial crust, and that to a very considerable extent. 
After an interval, more or less prolonged, it returns 
to the surface. Springs, fountains, artesian- wells, 
geysers, are thus originated. G-eysers are intermittent 
springs of boiling water, observed for the first time 
in Iceland, where the phenomenon is attended by 
remarkable circumstances.* 

'I'he return of the water to the surface takes place 

* See "Iceland: its Scenes and Sagas," by S. Baring-Gould. 



SrBMA RIXE SJ'Itl.WS. 



103 



under tne sea no less than on continents, as proved 
by numerous observations of submarine springs of 
fresh-water. Many such have been remarked on tlie 
Mediterranean littoral. According to M. de Ville- 
neuve-Flayosc, those ^ wliicii we find between Perpig- 
nan and Spezzia, at a distance more or 1( ss gieat fi'om 




Fig. 20. — Can.«e of Submarine Sprincrs {aa') ?ea Water; (bb) Kre-h 
Water; (^cc') ImpeiTaeable Strata, (t/c?) a Permeable Stratum in which 
the Fresh Water tlows 



the shore, deliver some 50 cubic metres every second, 
which is about one-third of the quantity of water 
delivered by the Seine in the same time. 

In the Gulf of Spezzia, at tlie distance of 60 or 
70 yards from the shore, we see a kind of swelling 
in the sea* it extends over a space about 80 foot 



104 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

m diameter, and is something less than six inches in 
height. When the sea is calm it is easy to see ver- 
tical jets of water springing from tbe bottom. This 
water is found to be fresh, and it comes from a sub- 
marine spring. Its superior lightness causes it to 
reach the surface of the sea before the salt-water lias 
time to affect it. 

At some distance from the embouchure of the Ga- 
laso, in the Gulf of Tarentum, there springs from the 
bottom of the sea a jet of fresh-water so powerful 
that it can be procured without mixture with the salt- 
water. A similar jet exists in the famous salt-pool 
of Thau, near Cette (on the Mediterranean coast of 
France) ; here the fresh-water rises so rapidly that it 
produces waves. 

What may be called a true subterranean river de- 
bouches under the sea near Ragusa. There are sweet- 
water springs in the ports of Gattaro and Aulona, 
near the embouchure of the Acheron, in the midst of 
the sea ; over a space of 40 feet in diameter fresh- water 
is thrown up abundantly with great force. This is 
probably the same spring of which Paiisauias speaks. 

A stream of fresh-water springs from the bottom 
of the sea near Tortosa, on the coast of Syria. Its 
force is so great that the sw^eet water can be taken 
without mixture with the salt. Pliny speaks of a 
>imilar phenomenon near Arcadus. 



SUBMAlilSE SrRlNGS. 105 

The Gulf of Argos suppli<^s an example of a ve)\- 
abundant source of fresli-water named Anavolco, and 
situate 1 between Kiveri and Astros. Ancient writers 
affirm, though this may be a little uncertain, that it 
has been in activity some 1700 years. Colonel 
Leake, a traveller remarkable for his minute observa- 
tion, informs ns tliat the column of fresh-water 
appears to be not less than 50 feet in diameter. 
Wiien the atmosphere was calm he observed tlmt the 
water rose with such force from the bottom of the sea 
as to swell the surface, and agitate it in concentric 
circles to a distance of some hundreds of feet. He 
attributed this to the embouchure of a subterranean 
river at the bottom of the sea. 

This phenomenon may, in a certain measure, be 
compared with that of artesian- wells, now so familiar 
to us. The water fif.ds its way into the eartli by fil- 
tration through certain permeable strata. These are 
so enclosed by beds of clay, or other matters not per- 
meable, that they form conduits which accidentally 
terminate beneath the sea. The fresh- water running 
in these natural conduits is lighter than salt-water. 
If it exists in sufficient quantity to prevent its being 
mixed completely with the latter, it rises t'j the sur- 
face on the same principle that oil tloats on the 
surface of ordinary water. 

It is not surprising, therefore, that we should find 



ion THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

in all seas submarine springs of fresh-water. Hum- 
boldt observed one, two or three leagues southward 
from Cuba, rising with such force that the smaller 
craft could not approach without risk. Ships supply 
themselves witli this water, and find it sweeter than 
water taken from other places of greater depth. 

Water that has been in the earth hold's in solution 
a certain amount of salts, proportioned to the time it 
has been detained underground, and to the de|)th 
and consequently increased temperature it may have 
attained. On returning to the surface, whether it be 
on the land or beneath the sea, it makes some slight 
deposit of the salt it holds in solution. Of course the 
quantity is not greater than is usually to be tound in 
what is called fresh-water, yet the deposit, accumu- 
lated through a long period of time, assists in the 
work of sedimentation, and thus modifies the bottom 
of the sea. To express by one word the character in 
common of all the deposits thus formed, they may 
be called "Geyserian." This appellation has been 
given to them by M. Alexandre Vezian, from the 
phenomenon which may be considered typical. 

Springs charged with stony matter, that is to say, 
petrifying springs, are the cause of deposits after 
their kind, but differing considerably according as 
the water in which they rise is calm or troubled. In 
the first case, the deposit is m.ade tranquilly, and the 



OOLITIC ROCKS. 107 

result is a compact and homogeneous rock. When, 
however, the water thus charged rises from a slight 
deptli, or at a point where it is subjected to tlie in- 
fluence of marine currents, the matters already de- 
posited are so tossed about that they present all 
their surfaces to the petrifying action. The in- 
crustation thus caused deposits itself all around them 
in concentric layers ; and their final combination, or 
massing together, causes them to resemble a heap of 
little eggs. The aggregation of all these oolitic par- 
ticles by the incrusting matter does not completely 
deprive the deposit so formed of its primitive cha- 
racter, and it is accordingly named oolite (or stone 
formed of eggs). The structure of this kind of rock 
has been called by geologists. Oolitic. 

The submarine deposits resulting from Geyserian 
action are of much less importance than those which 
are due to mechanical sedimentation. The physical 
forces play only a special part in their production. 
The life of the globe is the cause of numerous mo- 
difications in the aspect of the submarine soil, and 
in the nature of the deposits which accumulate at 
the bottom of the Ocean. Independently of the re- 
mains of terrestrial animals and plants which are 
borne into the sea, and swept through its deptlis by 
marine currents, or rolled by the waves, innumerable 
creatures live in the sea itself, and enrich it witli 



108 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

their S])oils. A rapid stu ly of these beings is indis- 
pensable to whomsoever \AOiild form an accurate idea 
of the submerged portion of the earth's crust, and of 
the phenomena which are produced on that wonderfiil 
stage of animate and inanimate existence. 



109 



SUBMARINE LIFE. 



1. Exuberance of Life in the Depths of the Ocean — Tableau of the 
Tropical Seas — Life in the Seas of the Temperate and the Frozen 
Zones — Natural Illumination of the Oceanic Abysses. 

Shall we say the play of life is pleasing to the 
Deity ? Everywhere we see, or we sensate, that great 
and incomprehensible manifestation of His omnipo- 
tence. Myriads of animals and plants people the 
earth and the air with forms of grace and beauty ; 
but in no part does the creative power reveal itself 
with more of grandeur and magnificence than in the 
abysses of Ocean. There, in fact, may be discovered 
the principles of all life. In the inspired account of 
the creation we are told that " in the beginning " the 
Spirit of God '' moved upon the face of the waters." 
The surface of the sea is less varied than that of the 
dry land ; but look deep into its bosom, and no region 
of the earth could give so vivid an idea of the exu- 
berance of life. Forms the most unexpected, a 
fecundity the most marvellous, challenge our admi- 
ration at every step we take through these wonderful 
regions. Here, to all appearance, is a plant, a minia- 
ture tree growing upon a rock ; its branches are 



110 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

verdiireless, but, <^.traiige to say, flowers of the most 
brilliant colours spiing from their extremities. The 
petals have the po^ver of motion, and by this motion 
they cause a miniature current to flow unceasingly 
towards tliem. T^nhappy are the animalculae who 
may be drawn into this perpetually renewed stream, 
for it flows into the mouths of the zoantharia, or 
animal-flower to which they serve for food ! 

See ! — there are two eyes sparkling in the sandy 
bottom. A living form, w^hich escaped our observa- 
tion before, detaches itself, as if a leaf rose, undu- 
lating in the water, after having stirred up around it 
a cloud of sand or other earthy particles. That 
living form is a turbot or a sole. At the least hint 
of danger it will retreat to the bottom, and, disposing 
itself flat upon the sand or mud, become almost in- 
visible. This rase is the only meane of defence pos- 
sessed by these creatures, and almost any other fish 
is bold enough to make them its prey. It is worth 
noting that one side of tlie body is white, the other 
(on which the eyes are phiced) is greenish-brown, 
resembling the bottom of tlie sea. 

And that bundle of serpents in violent agitation 
at the entrance of an ocean-cavern ! How they 
twine and writhe as tliey seize upon the living prey 
which an evil destiny draws into their neighbourhood ! 
Suddenly they launch themselves precipitately out 



CV'PTLE-FJSll. lis 

of their darksome retreat; a body ot some kind, 
armed with a sharp beak, has clutched hold of the 
creature ; two enormous eyes light the march of a 
more hideous monster than imagination ever de- 
picted. But a gigantic form advances rapidly against 
it. A terrible struggle seems imminent. No ! the 
monster with the long arms vomits a black poison ; 
the water to a great distance around it is filled with 
a dense fog ; the enemy retires, and the poulpe con- 
tinues to hunt his prey in a domain which few ani- 
mals dare approach. 

The ungainly bulk of the various kinds of whales ; 
the elegant forms of the argonauta ; the crab in his 
coat-of-mail ; the sea-urchin, which one would with 
difficulty recognise for an animal if it were not for 
the singular movement of his spines and his locomo- 
tive suckers; the innumerable swarms of fish which 
everywhere furrow the ocean, thicker than birds and 
insects wing the air ; the immense shoals of medusae 
transported by the marine currents like clouds of 
locusts on the wings of the wind — all these hosts of 
the sea, after all, occupy but a limited region in its 
immense extent. 

As soon as we descend a little below the surface, 
what interesting species and elegant forms conceal 
themselves, so to speak, in organisms of the simplest 
character, because adapted to the uniform existence 



114 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

which they all lead! What richness may be found 
ill that relative poverty! — what profusion of Life in 
those abysses to which we have not even access ! 

The inhabitants of the greatest depths, Jke those 
of the greatest heights, are the most uniformly dis- 
tributed. Many of them are genuine citizens of the 
world ; others, inhabiting the low bottoms, are sepa- 
rated from the rest of the world by the deep waters 
as by an impassable barrier. It is near the common 
surface, in regions swept by the winds, and subject 
to every variety of temperature, that animals exhibit 
those diversities of character which fit them either for 
the torrid zone, or the frozen regions which surround 
the poles. A current of warm water is as effective in 
keeping the distinct faunae apart as a rampart of 
flames. The Gulf Stream nourishes beings to which 
the neighbouring waters would prove fatal ; while, on 
the other hand, its own genial boundaries are impas- 
sable to species accustomed to the cold northern seas. 

That roving giant, the whale, hunts in cold waters, 
and we never encounter him except he is in pursuit 
of a shoal of herrings or other small fish, of which he 
devours whole nations at once. Throwing his vast bulk 
upon the serried ranks of his feeble enemy, he fills 
his maw with legions of victims, and keeps them 
crowded together in that antechamber of death, to 
devour them leisurely one by one- — his contracted 



CLIMATES OF THE SEA. Wt 

swallow setting a limit to his enormous appetite. 
The cachalot (spermaeeti whale) finds himself at 
home in warm regions, and there disputes the empire 
of the sea with the terrible shark. The phoca or 
sea-cow, the porpoise, and the narwlial leave free 
CO the dolphin the equatorial belt of waters, and fix 
their cantonments in colder regions. Often they fur- 
nish unhoped-for resources to the adventurous wan- 
derer in latitudes covered with frost and snow. 

There is an immense difference in the aspects 
respectively of warm and cold seas. The actors are 
not the same. The landscape itself presents totall}' 
different characters. Numerous plants contribute 
their graceful presence to adorn the hills and valleys, 
but (as we observe on land), they are not the sam^^ 
which grace the lieights with their long flexible rib- 
bons, swept by the currents, and which constitute the 
sea-green meadows in the calm deeps of the ocean. 
The richest vegetation is found in the temperate 
zones. There flourish immense forests, even more 
mysterious than the sacred woods of olden time. 
Fish, molluscs, crabs, are the happy denizens of these 
shady retreats. But who can flatter himself that he 
is familiar with these haunts ? Do they not rather 
seem for ever closed against the intrusion of man ? 
Who can presume to fathom the mystery of these 
immense tracts, denser with foliage than the virgin 



118 THE BGPTOM OF THE SEA. 

forests of the New World ? And what of the joys and 
griefs, the struggles and massacres, of which, if the 
faint conceptions of our imagination can be trusted, 
these vast wildernesses may be the scene ? 

If you desire an illustration, see there, among the 
rank herbage and flags at the embouchure of that 
great river, an animal which measures anything under 
eighteen feet from the head to the extremity of the 
tail. His form recalls that of a pentagonal column 
or a log of w^ood. He is squatting there, silent, im- 
moveable. His tremendous jaws have an almost 
benignant expression, and all around float barbi lions, 
looking like little worms. What a prey for any little 
fish that may be swimming in the neighbourhood ! 
But these worms are under the guard of a great 
monster. The little fisli advances in haste to seize 
them. The benign jaws separate, and in a moment he 
is swallowed. Perchance he makes a silent vow that 
he will never again hunt this kind of prey ; but if he 
has been this time the sport of an illusion, has he not 
often given chase to worms as supple and as frisky ? 

The worm floats in the water, or hollows out for 
itself some abode in the tine sand, far from all agita- 
tion. It nourishes itself with the infinitely little, 
but sometimes it attaches itself to great animals, at 
whose expense it lives, as we see in the case of ter- 
restrial creatures. Certain species attain a consider- 



FKCUyiJlTY OF FlISH, liy 

able leni>th. Everywhere they encounter voracious 
enemies. Pursued into the pools, tracked in th( 
sands, these creatures escape annihiUition only by 
their extreme fecundity. 

It would seem as if Nature — in the greater 
number of beings that people the ocean — had 
sought to compensate them by an incredible fe- 
cundity for the causes of destruction by which they 
are surrounded. Some fish of large size have only 
two or three young, like the majority of terrestrial 
animals ; but what shall we say of the fertility of 
the herring, the mackerel, the cod, the sturgeon, and 
other inhabitants of the seas? It has been calcu- 
lated that if a herring could multiply during twenty 
years without losing any of its spawn or fry, its 
offspring would form a mass ten times greater than 
the globe. Obviously, the smaller creatures which 
are destined to serve as food to these enormous 
hosts must be more prolific still ! 

As we advance towards the equator, vegetation 
becomes less abundant and less varied. The waters 
are too much heated to be agreeable to the great^^. 
number of the algae, and if in any part of tx' 
equatorial seas the submarine vegetation attains the 
scale of grandeur, it is still wanting in the delicacy 
and elegance which characterise the vegetation of 
the temperate zones. 



120 THE BOTTOM OF THE 6EA. 

Nor are the frozen regions of the earth more 
agreeable to the algae than those which are too 
highly heated. They disappear long before wo 
cease to find traces of animal life. Flowers pre- 
serve their brilliance under the snovv, which pro- 
tects them from the too intense cold ; but the 
polar ice does not seem to perform a similar kind 
office for marine plants. Life is extinguished at 
the poles by sheer numbness, and these plants are 
among the first of living things to resent that 
effect. Eocks^ sand, and mud are here only accidents 
of the submarine landscape. Here we no longer 
find the charming rural retreats (if the expression 
be allowable) of the hippocampi, those quaint hybrids 
of the creation : here are none of those republics of 
stone built up through age succeeding age by 
armies of insect workmen. Nature seems to have 
reached the end of her resources. The beings con- 
demned to these gloomy solitudes are not the 
creatures of a single element, but pass their lives 
alternately in the air and in the water. They are 
like a link between the aerial and the submarine 
worlds. The sea, covered with thick masses of ice, 
supplies them with but little nourishment in winter. 
During this season, therefore, they hunt such land 
animals as chance may throw in their w'ay.; they 
even prey upon one anothei-, and we know how 



INHABITED REGIONS OF THE OCEAN. 



121 



dangerous their neigbbonrhood is to the sailoi- wlio 
is compelled to winter in these inhosj)ittible regions. 

Thus, heat on tlie one hand, and cold on tlie other, 
arrest the extension of life beneath the ocean. 

It is not necessary to descend far below the sur- 




Fig. 23. — The Hippocampus. 

face of the sea to find the limits of that vital zone 
which seems to us at first so immensely extended. 
At slight depths every undulation of the surface 
acts as a disturbing cause, and obscures vision by 
rapid alternations of light and shade. Soon the 



122 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

silence and the darkness are not more than momcii- 
tarily troubled by the sinking of a cable, or the 
I roken remains of a wrecked vessel. Before arriving 
at these profound depths there are regions to which 
the light of day but rarely and with difficulty pene- 
trates, and which yet are inhabited by legions of 
living beings. From what star unknown to us do 
they borrow their light ? Or does their special 
nature permit them to substitute for sight a sense 
more delicate still ? No ! these animals see clearly, 
and one of their functions is to find light for them- 
selves — they are phosphorescent. 

Fr-^dol observes : '* We are now aware that the 
infusorisB are not the only animals which cause the 
phosphorescence of the sea. This beautiful pheno- 
menon is determined also by the medusae, the 
asterias, the molluscs, the nereids, and by some 
crustaceans and fishes. These animals engender light 
as the gymnotus engenders electricity. They even 
multiply and develope the eifects of the pheno- 
menon. The light which they produce rapidly 
changes from a greenish to a reddish tinge. At 
certain moments, the darkness is lighted as by 
ladiant points running into starry feathers or fringes 
v)f light. So vast is the number of these phos- 
phorescent animals, that they appear at a distance 
like metallic masses heated to whiteness, or like 



SUBMAltlME ILLUMINATION. 12:? 

bouquets of fire formed of myriads of gliltciing 
points; or, again, tli(^y may be compared to festoons 
of coloured lamps such as are used in public illumi- 
naiioDS — or, yet again, to burning meteors, elongated 
or globular. Mingling and grouping, approaching and 
separating, ascending and descending, these wondeiful 
wreaths of light describe a thousand capricious 
curves ; and if they fade away or seem to be extin- 
guishe i, it is only to be rekindled the next moment, 
and to pursue again the same fantastic course. " 

It is in the waters of the warmer latitudes that 
the starfishes display all their brilliance. The finest 
illumination on the occasion of a public fe^e can 
scarcely give an idea of this submarine spectacle. 
Has the reader seen on a fine summer evening the 
flashing splendour of the myriads of fireflies which 
sport away their brief existence in the valleys of Italy 
or of Corsica, and which for their immense numbers 
may be justly compared to the sparks issuing from a 
conflagration ? Has he remarked in the blossoming 
herbage hu^v the pretty little glowworm spreads 
around it a brilliant red or green light ? Imagine, 
then, glowworms and fireflies mingled together in 
all forms and colours, and in such immense numbers 
as to extend over many hundre Is of square leagues ; 
add to this that every nook of the vast region wliich 
they ilkinimate has its own proper light — that what 



124 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

seems to us brown, lustreless, and uniformly dull when 
we observe it by tbe light of day, acquires in the 
abysses of the Ocean those rich tints and phospho- 
rescent gleams with which the Arab story-tellers 
liave glorified their dreams of fairyland — and you 
will have a faint idea of the wonderful spectacle 
presented by the Ocean to the diver who dares to 
brave the innumerable dangers of a submarine ex- 
cursion ! 

2. Migration of Marine Animals — Nests at the Bottom of the Sea^- 
Fisheries. 

In all ages man has derived instruction from the 
observation of nature. The sea above all has sharp- 
ened his intelligence, and therefore we are not sur- 
prised to be told that the nautilus or argonaut, one 
of the oldest-known of marine animals, has the 
credit of having taught him navigation. The species 
which inhabits the Mediterranean {Argonauta Argo) 
must in former days have been more widely diffused 
than at present. It is now found only in the better 
sheltered latitudes — the Archipelago, the Adriatic, 
and the Straits of Messina. On a beautifully fine day, 
when the air is serene and the sea tranquil, the 
elegant shell of the argonaut may be seen floating 
on the water, which it navigates by means of a 
locomotive tube, and by spreading to the wind tw^o 



Tnl:: ARGON AUTA. 120 

of its limbs furnished with fine silver-coloured 
membranes — the other limbs being extended, like 
oars, on either side of the shell. Gazing on this 
elegant and living vessel, its delicate shining mem- 
branes looking like little wings, it is easy to under- 
stand how Aristotle and Pliny saw in the nautilus 
one of the marvels of the sea, and pictured it as a 
representative in miniature of the art of navigation. 

The argonaut is found in many seas, but is not, 
properly speaking, a traveller. The least billow, the 
approach of the slio-htest peril, causes the timid 
creature to draw in his arms, upon which, in con- 
sequence of refilling his shell with water, he sinks 
into the calm and safe depths of the sea. His re_ 
treat is so cleverly managed that it is extremely 
difficult to take him captive. The officers of the 
Vaillant, desiring to obtain some of these beautiful 
objects, sent a boat's crew, during a voyage to the 
Cape of Good Hope, to capture one or more speci- 
m'^ns ; but scarcely had the men moved their hands 
towards them, than the too clairvoyant animals sud- 
denly filled their shells, and, sinking to the bottom, 
left the sailors gazing at each other in disappointed 
admiration. 

Attention has always been attracted by the forms 
of fishes, and from them, in fact, we appear to have 
borrowed the idea for the forms of ships. The 



126 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

incredible agility of the dolphin, which travels in a 
company so numeroas, and gambols so joyously in 
the track of the sailor, together with the sudden 
appearance and disappearance of immense shoals of 
fish at certain seasons, and the analogous migra- 
tion of birds, naturally suggested that fish make long 
journeys, and that certain species accomplish these 
journeys periodically. The curious circumstances of 
these periodic expeditions did not, however, become 
known until the surface of the Ocean had been sub- 
dued by the nations of the West ; until the fisheries of 
Newfoundland, of the coasts of Norway, of England, 
and of Brittany had called the attention of the learned 
to the facts, a few instances of which were alone known 
to the ancients. 

The tunny is among the number of fish that were 
known to be travellers before the modern epoch. It 
is found in the Mediterranean moving in a triangular 
phalanx; one point forming the advance, as if to 
cleave the waves more easily, while the base is often 
of gxeat extent. It is also abundant in the G-erman 
Ocean, on the coast of Guinea, in the region of the 
Antilles, in the waters of Brazil, and in those of 
Chili and China. The warmer w,aters are resorted 
to by the tunny for 1 reeding. Immense numbers 
pass the winter in the eastern part of the Mediter- 
ranean, where they deposit their eggs at depths o ' 



THE TUNNY AND HERRING. 127 

about a hundred feet more or less, avoiding with 
great care the shoal-water. Troops of tliem leave 
the east in the month of May, and are then to be 
found in abundance on tlie coasts of Sicily and of 
Southern Italy. In tlie autumn they return to the 
Tyrrhenian Sea. 

Pliny relates that the fleet of Alexander encoun- 
tered such immense numbers of tunny-fish that they 
could not make their way through the living mass, 
nor could any noise or commotion they could raise 
avail to disperse them. They were compelled at 
last to range themselves in order of battle, as if to 
break through an enemy's line. 

The dolphin, the salmon, and the sturgeon also 
travel in companies of their own species, but not 
in great numbers. They even mount the larger 
rivers, and forget, for a time, the salt-waters in 
which they had so many enemies to encounter. But 
of all fish-travellers, for the distance traversed and 
other points of interest, commend us to the inliabit- 
ants of the colder parts of the temperate zone. 

The herring occupies the first rank in those classes 
of animals of which man has sufficient knowledge to 
convert them to his profit. It abounds in the northern 
seas, and it has even been thought that immense 
shoals of herrings live during a great part of the 
year under the polar ice, where they are safe from the 



128 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

attacks of their numerous enemies.* However that 
may be, some naturalists think — and, as it appears to 
us, with good reason — that during the spawning 
season the herring simply quits the level bottom of 
the Ocean to deposit its eggs in the waters which 
afford the protection of rocks or of abrupt eminences 
against the force of the marine currents. 

Herrings do not obey simply the rule of caprice 
in making their migrations. They appear to select 
the coasts towards wijich they are travelling. As 
all the paths of the sea may not be convenient for 
the passage of a great host, though small detach- 
ments may make their way without difficulty, the 
armies of herrings do not follow indifferently any 
route. They traverse the regions where the staple 
of their nourishment most abounds. Having visited 
a coast they will return there freely the following 
year. But suddenly, without any apparent reason, 
they may disappear for a time, or perhaps for ever. 
The arrival of the mackerel is sometimes the cause 
of their departure. Being of larger size than the 
herring, as well as better armed, the latter flies as at 
sight of an enemy too formidable to be encountered. 



* The best authorities no longer countenance this theory. The 
following paragraphs, in which the fact of the migration of herrings 
is implied, are also open to dispute. The reader is referred to the 
gpecial works of Bertram and Mitchell. — Tr. 




Fig. 24. — Herrings attacked by Tunny-fish. 



MIGRATION OF II hli RINGS 131 

Nearly all lishes are to be more or les- dreaded by 
herrings. They lly like troops incessantly harassed 
by guerilla bands excited to the pursuit. The cod, 
the tunny, and the shark emulate each other in the 
dc'StiiK-tion of these swarming multitudes, whose 
propagation would be too rapid if they did not serve 
as nutriment to the other inhabitants of the seas. 

During many ages the coasts of Norway were the 
favourite resort of herrings. Thousands of vessels 
were devoted to the fishery. About the year 1600 
they migrated towards the German coast, and their 
fishery enriched the Hanseatic cities. It is about a 
hundred years since immense shoals of them visited 
St. George's Channel. We are equally ignorant of 
the cause of their arrival and that of their depar- 
ture. At the present time, mackerel are very 
abundant on the coast of Norway. May this fact 
account for the abrupt departure of the herrings? 
Or is it that the herrings have not found, as in St. 
George's Channel, a sufficiency of nourishment? 
However this may be, the celebrated Franklin put 
to a profitable application the memory of the herring, 
rind its love for its native place. Of two neighbour- 
ing rivers, the one Avas visited by a great number of 
these fish, whilst none appeared in the other. Frank- 
lin caused the nets covered with spawn to be taken 
iVom the one and placed in the other. The herrings 



132 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

did not fail, in the following year, to make their pil- 
grimage to the river which had given them birth, 
and afterwards both rivers were equally well fre- 
quented. 

The following facts will give an idea of the im- 
mense armies of herrings which invade our seas. The 
single city of Glasgow^, in Scotland, exports annually 
more than twenty thousand pounds' worth in value. 
In 1773 the fishery in a single firth upon the Scottish 
coast employed every night one thousand six hundred 
and fifty boats, and the weight of the fish they cap- 
tured was twenty thousand tons. On one occasion, 
upon the western coast of the Isle of Skye, their 
number was so great that it was impossible to dispose 
of them in the usual way. Alter all the smacks had 
been filled, and the v\hole neighbourhood was suffi- 
ciently provided, the farmers used the remainder for 
manure. For a long time the shoal continued to 
visit the same coast, and appeared in the Sound of 
Sleat in such immense numbers, that they quite filled 
Loch Hourn from one extremity to the other, though 
it is more than half a league in depth. The tide left so 
many behind it, that the shore was covered to a depth 
which varied from three or four inches to eighteen 
inches, and at low-water they were visible as far as 
the eye could reach. 

Herring-shoals are not only very thick, but the fish 



COD-BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 183 

are closely packed in them, and in their advance 
they sometimes drive all other fish before tliem. 
The shoal of which we have just spoken had thus 
driven before it flounders, skates, and other large 
fish, which perished on the shore among the first 
ranks of the herrings. The mere pressure of the mass 
forces those in tlie front ranks to advance, whatever 
obstacle presents itself. This fact is utilised in tlie 
fishery. Very long nets, to one side of which are 
fixed plummets of lead, and to the other buoys, are 
let down vertically into the sea. The meshes are large 
enough to admit the head of the fish, but not to let 
the entire body pass through. If the herring were 
to try to withdraw, the openings of his gills would 
catch in the net and make escape impossible. The 
net is generally let down at night, because the her- 
rings are then more abundant. 

The cod, that other nomad of the sea, is found in 
armies at the meeting of the cold and warm waters 
upon the Bank of Newfoundland. An immense 
quantity of small worms are found in that locality, of 
which the cod makes his favourite food. Year by 
year these barbarian hordes renew their invasion — 
every year they are arrested in their course by the 
Gulf Stream ; and after being decimated by the fishers, 
their great enemies, the broken remainder of the 
band retire into the polar seas to recruit their 



134 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

strength. The fecundity of the cod is incredibly 
great. The celebrated microscopist, Leuwenhoeck, 
counted in a single individual as many as nine millions 
of eggs. Their multiplication being so rapid, it is 
easy to repair in a single season the losses of an 
army. 

Sharks and other great fishes destroy the cod b ^' 
thousands ; man — a more terrible enemy still, per- 
liaps — makes a shambles of his feeding-ground. What 
a blessing it was to these creatures when our race 
was confined to the limits of the ancient world! 
What a happy tranquillity did they not enjoy, before 
the illustrious Cabots dared to face the fogs and 
frozen waters of Newfoundland and Canada! 

The cod-fishery is by far more dangerous and more 
tedious than that of the herring. The net cannot be 
employed with the same facility, although it is still 
used upon the coasts of Norway. A line is generally 
substituted for it. To the line is fixed a hook, with 
a bait which the cod is not slow to seize hold of 
His weight renders the operation of pulling in most 
laborious. To form an idea of the amount of work 
done by a fisherman in a single day, it is enough to 
state that a strong man may capture as many as four 
hundred of these fish, weighing, on the average, from 
fifteen to twenty pounds each ; some individuals, how- 
ever, measuring nearly five feet in circumference, and 



THI': MACKEREL \Zb 

from six to seven feet in length, and weighing as much 
as eighty pounds. Each vessel employed in the fisherv 
sends, on an average, thirty thousand cod to Europe, 
cind we know how hirge is the number ol' vessels en- 
gaged in the trade. 

Many other fish furrow the vast extent of ocean on 
every hand, swim in innumerable legions along the 
coast, or hide themselves in the deeps, where the 
calm promises them greater security. The mackerel 
is of all the most cosmopolitan. This popular favourite 
visits every year the coasts of Norway ; it abounds in 
the markets of Germany and of England during the 
summer (the season at which it swarms in the North 
Sea and the Baltic) ; it is found in equal plenty on 
the coasts of Iceland, of Ireland, and of Spain in the 
Mediterranean. It is fished by the inhabitants of 
the Canary Isles, in the neighbourhood of nearly all 
the American islands, and even at Japan and Suri- 
nam. It disappears every year at a certain time, 
retiring far from the surface to return again in the 
spring. The mackerel, we may observe, in conclu- 
sion, is a great feeder ; it is so voracious that it will 
not hesitate to attack animals larger than itself; the 
shoals of small fish which keep in general near the 
coast are, however, its great resource. 

Small fish which travel in shoals or immense herds 
are next to defenceless. If the centre of the mass is 



136 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

comparatively safe from the greater number of their 
enemies, the sides are exposed ; and the accumu- 
lation of such immense masses of living beings must 
of course attract the attention of rays, sharks, and 
other tigers of the sea. Some species of small size, 
such as the anchovy and sardine, are great travellers. 
They dwell in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. The anchovy also is found in the seas 
of Asia and America. It passes from the Atlantic 
into the Mediterranean during the months of May, 
June, and July, and directs its course towards the 
Archipelago and the Syrian coast. The most consider- 
able fishery is in the Tuscan waters, where large 
numbers are captured from April to the end of July. 
The ancliovy is taken during the night, when 
there is no moon, by means of a boat called by the 
fishermen a fastier, upon the deck of which a fire 
is made. Another boat carries a net called a rissole, 
which is more than two hundred feet long by about 
thirty feet in breadth. When the fastier is sur- 
rounded by a sufficient number of anchovies, the 
sailor in charge gives a signal to his companions, who 
throw the net into the sea, and extend it in such a 
manner as to surround the fish that have been 
attracted by the light. Suddenly the fire on the 
fastier is extinguished, the terrified anchovies fly in all 
directions, and are of course captured in the meshes 



HAUNTS OF FISH. 137 

of the net. This method of fishing is practised at a 
distance of one or two leagues from tlie coast. At tlie 
l-eriod of spawning a different plan is adopted. The 
fish then approach the shore to deposit their eggs 
upon the shallow sands, and are caught in great 
seines or dravvnets in the ordinary way. 

The sardine fishery is managed like that of the 
anchovies, only the meshes of the net are a little 
more open. The sardine is found in its highest per- 
fection on the coasts of Brittany. 

Herrings, mackerel, and col prefer to deposit 
their spawn in rocky localities ; anchovies love better 
the shallow sandy bottoms. Thus the character of 
the sea-bottom influences the inhabitants of the 
deep in their peregrinations. Some examples of this 
fact are generally known. The following is one of 
the most remarkable. 

The Spaniards for a long time enjoyed the mo- 
nopoly of the tunny trade : seven immense es- 
tablishments of this fishery existed on the shores 
neighbouring the Straits of Gibraltar ; and there 
passed annually through the Pillars of Hercules 
more than four hundred thousand of this fish. This 
source of wealth was lost in a single day, owing to 
the earthquake which overthrew Lisbon. The Span- 
ish coasts were rocky, and furnished an agreeable 
resort to the oceanic travellers. On the day of the 



138 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

earthquake great quantities of sand and pebbles were 
torn from tne coasts of Africa, and thrown upon 
those of Europe. The latter were thus converted 
into shallows and sandbanks. The tunny-fish, 
having to extend their journeys to the coasts of 
Tetuan and Sale, acquired more liberty. It required 
nets extravagantly long to capture them, and, in 
fine, the fishery was transferred to the Sardinian and 
Italian coasts. 

It would be very difficult to account for the pre- 
ference shown by the tunny for a rocky coast. It 
is possible, however, that the facilities it affords For 
shelter is the chief reason. Great and imposing as 
the tunny looks, he is so timid that he makes 
scarcely an effort to escape from the net after a first 
attempt has failed, and thus gives very little trouble 
to the fishermen. 

The nets used for the tunny fishery in the Medi- 
terranean are like enormous sacks, which in Italy are 
called tonndrk It is at the commencement of April 
that the fishermen begin to construct the fortress 
into which they expect the tunny to enter ; immense 
nets are fixed to the bottom, by means of anchors, and 
weights so heavy that the most violent tempest will 
not dislodge them. The tunny loves, as we have 
said, the rocky coasts, or passages between the isles. 
It is in such places that the fishers establish their 



THE TUNNY FISHERY. 139 

tonnare\ the passage throughout is carefully closed 
by nets, between which only a small opening is left, 
which we may call the exterior gate of the submarine 
fortalice. That gate which leads into the first 
apartment, called the Tialle, is made on the side of 
the channel by which the tunny arrives every year. 
When a troop of these animals has entered into the 
halle, the fishers close the exterior gate of the ton- 
ndra ; they then terrify the tunnies by throwing 
gravel at them, or by scarecrows made of sheep- 
skin — or they even pursue them until they are induced 
to pass through a second gate, into the "ante- 
chamber ;" this second gate being then closed, the 
first is opened again to admit a fresh party into the 
halle. When a sufficiently large number of these 
animals are assembled in the antechamber, similar 
tricks are resorted to to drive them into the chamber 
of death, where the fishermen kill them with lances. 
Sometimes despair renders them furious ; they fling 
themselves out of tlie water, and break their necks 
or bruise their heads against the rocks and boats. 

We have reason to be astonished at the facility 
with which tlie tunny is fished, when we recall to 
mind its great size. It is generally from two to 
three or more feet long, but occasionally is consider- 
ably bigger. It is often found of the size of a man, 
and has been taken from six-feet-six to eight feet 



1^'^ THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

long, upon the coast of Brazil. Some naturalists 
relate instances in which tunnies still longer have 
been captured, and which were otherwise remarkable 
for their unusual dimensions. 

In many other cases, and sometimes to capture a 
prey less precious, man is himself forced to descend to 
the bottom of the sea. It is thus that he fishes the 
sponge, the pearl, the trepang, and the coral. We 
will devote a special chapter to these, adventurous 
and barbarous expeditions. At present we continue 
our observations from the shores, or, at least, we will 
just now explore such parts only of the bottom as we 
can sound by means of a boat. 

Here is a quantity of spawn floating on the sur- 
face. This spawn is composed of a number of eggs, 
united by a transparent jelly. It serves as pasture 
to fish of every kind ; but that which is not devoured 
will become little fish, and be called to higher desti- 
nies, if the sticklebacks, greediest of all the small fry, 
do not destroy it, or if the swell of the sea does 
not throw it upon the coast, where it will corrupt 
and spread around a phosphorescent glow. 

At the bottom, the cod, the herring, the mackerel, 
the tunny, and other fish have deposited their spawn 
in the crannies of the rocks, under the stones, in all 
places well defended against the agitation of the 
waters. Notwithstanding these precautions, how 



NESTS OF P^ISII. 141 

many generations of thera are not devom-ed b^lore 
they are hatched, by hungry rovers, and often by 
the fish themselves, who had secreted their offspring 
with such care ! Life is preserved in the sea by the in- 
credible fecundity of marine animals, a fecundity of 
which we have now seen a lew examples. 

Some inhabitants of the seas, however, appear to 
take the most jealous precautions to protect their de- 
scendants from the attacks of a too implacable enemy. 
Some, like the marine worm, the solen, hide them- 
selves entirely in the sand ; others content themselves 
with secreting their eggs ; others, again, actually con- 
struct nests in the algae, the leaves of which they 
interlace for the purpose. 

The stickleback, in particular, so much to be 
dreaded for the fry of other fish, takes the greatest 
care of its own eggs. Living usually in the sub- 
marine forests, it is of the most savage character. In 
the spawning season, it weaves its nest most ar- 
tistically, and there deposits its eggs. Unhappy is 
the fish which approaches that sanctuary : whatever 
be its size, it will have to defend itself from the 
furious attack of the stickleback — it will have to 
bear stroke redoubled upon stroke ol" its prickles. Its 
bites will sometimes rend the skin. M. Arderon 
relates that he once preserved a stickleback in a 
great jar of water, where it devoured in five hours 



142 THE BOTTOM OF TEE iSEA. 

fourteen small fry about an inch long, and it seemed 
to be very comfortable after its sumptuous repast. 
It would not suffer any other fish in the same vessel, 
and attacked any that might be put in, even though 
they were ten times its own size. One day M. 
Arderon put a small fish in ; the stickleback imme- 
diately gave it chase, bit a morsel out of its tail, and if 
it had not been taken from the vessel, it would most 
certainly have killed it. 



3. Terrible Conflicts of Marine Monsters — Massacre of the Weak 
by the Strong. 

Life is sustained by death ; we are constant wit- 
nesses to the truth of this adage. It would seem as 
if a given quantity of life had been conferred on the 
globe, and that it neither augments nor diminishes, 
but that it is incessantly transformed and renewed — 
in a word, that all death reproduces an equivalent 
quantity of life.* 

Although it is true that man has sustained the 
most deadly struggles against monsters since the 
earliest ages, the memory of which is perpetuated in 
legends and fables, he has in later times extended 

* Quantity cannot be piedicated of life. M. Soniel occasionally 
philosophises in this vein, and we have generally allowed liira to 
have his own way. If the reader cares for another opinion, ours id 
that this is not the language a pliilosopher ought to use, — Tb. 



UTTLTSATION OF FISH, 143 

very considerably the circle of liis adventurous ex- 
peditions. As the marvellous has given place to 
more exact ideas concerning the theatre ot his ex- 
ploits and the nature of his enemies he has felt his 
audacity increase day by day. He has driven his 
keels til rough every inch of the sea's surface, and he 
has sought to bring the powers of the Ocean under 
the same subjection as those of the earth. He has 
offered deadly combat to the whale, and pursued 
him even into the solitudes of the frozen regions, 
where some species have taken refuge to escape his 
blows. He derives from nearly all its species a great 
profit by melting down their grease and their liver to 
extract an oil. The thick skin of the greater num- 
ber of whales is converted to numerous uses ; the fins 
of the balsena, the spermaceti lodged in the head 
of the cachalot, the amber^^ris which forms in the in- 
testines of that animal when he is ill, are among the 
articles of commerce furnished by the whale species. 
It is to the pursuit of these treasures that we are 
indebted, in a great degree, for our exact knowledge 
of the habits of these marine monsters. Between 
some of them there prevails a sufficiently good un- 
derstanding, but others appear to live in continual 
warfare ; each being ready, at an instant's notice, to 
precipitate itself upon the other when they meet. 
Such appears to be th^ caso with the balapua, O'' 



1*4 TUIiJ BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

whalebone whale, and the swordfish, though some 
say the latter is always the aggressor. Sailors report 
that the balaena, whose vast mass imposes on nearly 
all the inhabitants of the seas, and who, under his 
thick cuirass of blubber, may brave with impunity 
their attacks, seems to be troubled in an extra- 
ordinary manner when he perceives the swordfish at 
a distance. According to the same statements, the 
swordfish makes a rush at the whale, which dives to 
the bottom to avoid him. His enemy, keeping close 
in pursuit, compels him to remount to the surface. 
The whale has no other means of defence but his 
tail ; with a single blow he might annihilate his 
enemy, if he could only get at him, but the swords- 
man is quite as alert as his antagonist is strong, and 
easily eludes his efforts ; he springs into the air and 
comes down upon the whale, not to pierce him with liis 
sword, but to give him still more dangerous wounds 
with the serrated edge of that terrible arm. M. de 
Tessan witnessed an interesting combat of this kind 
jn mid-ocean : the entry in his diary is as follows : — 
" Lat. 23° W N., Long. 108° 49' W. ; 16th Dec, 
1837. — I have had a good view, although at a 
considerable distance, of a fight between a whale and 
a swordfish. The latter leaped into the air, to the 
height of ten or twelve feet, made a half-turn, and 
^ctme down in the water upon the head of ttie whale. 



WUALES. 147 

His blows were repeated again and again ; and the 
whale, at each fresh attack, struck the water violently 
with his tail, and often appeared above the surface to 
blow. The combat lasted a long time, and was always 
confined to the same spot — which proves that the 
whale dill not attempt to fly from his enemy. Snrl- 
denly, after a moment of repose, tlie whale itself 
sprang from the water, to a height of about three 
yards, and, coming down with a crash, caused the 
water to spring up with great force. After this 
tremendous effort the struggle ap[3eared to cease, at 
least I saw nothing more of it." 

The balaena, or whalebone whale, is the least 
voracious of the cetacea. He is much less so than 
the cachalot or spermaceti, which, although of less 
bulk, may nevertheless be reckoned among the giants 
of creation. The spermaceti has a large throat, and 
is able to swallow at a mouthful a lar^e quantity of 
fish. Soiue curious statements are made, to this 
effect, to which it is difficult to yield implicit faith, 
although they are vouched for by naturalists. '• A 
spermaceti whale, having beeen wounded,' says 
Grantz, "vomited a shark sixteen feet long; and 
there were found in his stomach the bones of a fish 
more than six feet long. Probably," adds the same 
author, "the fish that swallowed Jonah was of this 
sjDecies." 



143 THE BOTTOM OF THE iStA. 

What a monster this must have been, which could 
relieve the ocean, at a single mouthful, of one of its 
most dreaded inhabitants ! 

The voracity and power of the shark itself are 
terrible almost beyond credence. It is formidable 
even to the great cetacea; it will follow, ^^ithout 
intermission, vessels sailing in the torrid zone, and 
devour whatever they let fall into the sea. Should 
any portion of the equipment or baggage fall over- 
board, it instantly becomes the prey of this monster. 
Its jaws, furnished with a hundred and thirty strong 
and pointed teeth, are powerful enough to chop a 
man in two at one bloAv. The only check imposed on 
its voracity by nature is due to the position of its 
mouth. Instead of being at the extremity of its 
body, it is placed on the lower surface, at some 
distance from the snout, so that to seize its prey the 
shark is obliged to incline itself on one side. While 
it is making this movement its intended victim often 
escapes. 

When it has once tasted human flesh, the shark is 
certain to continue its visits to the places where he 
expects to find it. For this reason the pearl-fisherie); 
are the theatre of dreadful struggles, in which the 
coolness and intelligence of man happily triumph 
sometimes over this tiger of the seas. Every diver, 
when he descends, is armed with a sharp knife. 



SHAEKS. 149 



When a shark attempts to charge upon liiin, the 
object of the diver is to stab him with liis knife in 
the belly. The negroes of America do not fear to 
measure their strength and skill against him. The 
instant they perceive their enemy they dive to a great 




Fig. 26. — Fight between a Sailor and a Shark. 

depth; then, rising as suddenly, they stab the shirk 
in the belly before he has time to take up his offensive 
position. 

But it is not necessary to seek in the annals of 
negroes or Asiatics for acts of courage and of hand-to- 



160 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

baud struggles (if one may use the expression) be- 
tween heroic men and their terrible adversary. An 
English merchant-vessel having arrived at Bar- 
badoes, many of the sailors threw themselves into 
the sea to take a bath. An enormous shark advanced 
towards them ; every one endeavoured to reach the 
ship's boat sent to their aid. At the instant when he 
was about to escape from the water, one of these 
poor fellows was bitten in two by the monster. The 
friend of this unfortunate man was lashed into fury, 
and, seeing that the shark was looking about in the 
bloody water for the remains of his victim, the brave 
young fellow sprang into the sea, resolved to perish 
as his friend had done, or make the monster pay for 
his audacity with his life. In a moment the shark 
made a dash at the intrepid sailor, and now he was 
close upon him. Already he had turned himself over 
on his side, and opened his immense jaws. 

With his left hand the sailor gripped hold of the 
shark under his pectoral fin, and with his right hand, 
in which he held a sharp poniard, he struck him 
blow redoubled upon blow. It was in vain the shark 
endeavoured to disembarrass himself of his enemy ; 
the sea was dyed with his blood, and yet the sailor's 
arm never seemed to tire of repeating the blows. The 
men in the boats belonging to the various ships 
moored in the load awaited with anguish the end of 



VOltAClTY OF FJSTJ. 153 

the terrible conflict. At length tliey could breatlie 
ireely. Human heroism and skill had triumphed; 
the man was seen pushing the carcase of the monster 
towards the shore, where he tore out his entrails, and 
took from them the mangled remains of his friend. 

Nearly all tlie other inhabitants of the sea are 
voracious ; but their small dimensions, and tlieir 
feebleness relative to their means of attack, render 
them less terrible to man, and mask their massacres 
and depredations of all kinds. It needs the eye of 
the naturalist and the sailor to observe those lesser 
details of oceanic life which do not affect us directly, 
nor strike our imaginations like the more frightful 
ravages of the great marine monsters. 

The turbot and the sole, those deformed outcasts 
of society, as some might think, are nevertheless 
your true cosmopolites. They are equally at home 
in sandy and rocky places, but their flesh acquires a 
preferable taste in tlie latter. They are fished upon 
the coasts of Europe, at the Cape of Good Hope, in 
the Indian Ocean, and even in the Chinese seas. 
Everywhere they are the prey of numerous enemies, 
yet let us not be too prodigal of our pity for them. 
What they need is strength alone, not voracity. The 
bait used in their fishery are morsels of herrings, 
little lampreys, worms, limpets, and mussels. They 
will only eat, however, either livino: or fresh Iv-ki lied 



154 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

flesh ; tliey will not bite at a morsel of herring that 
has been more than twelve hours dead. Look at this 
specimen of the delicate inoffensive gourmet ! How, 
with a body so thin and supple, with a mouth devoid 
of teeth, or any hard substance which might supply 
their place, conld he dream of becoming an assailant ? 
Nevertheless, that animated leaf swallows the shells 
along with their inhabitants ! 

At every step iii the sea we have to note the de- 
struction of the I'eeble by the strong, the little by the 
great. Let us not forget that life alone is capable of 
sustaining life ; it is in general the stronger that is 
charged with the duty of avenging the fate of the 
feebler. The tunny ruthlessly destroys the herring, 
but the pleasures of the chase are embittered by his 
inevitable encounter with the shark ; and often when 
he is in the very midst of a delicious meal of herring, 
lie is himself victimised by the tyrant of the seas. 

The entire life of marine animals seems to be 
passed in a study or a struggle how one shall eat the 
other. The problem has to be settled by continual 
ruses, attacks and precipitous flights, battles and 
deaths, without a spectator to compassionate the 
sorrows of the vanquished. There is no outcry, no 
useless talk over these tragedies. One meets another, 
attacks him, devours him — that is all ! 

This ferocious cruelty, this coldblooded and 



PUGNACITY OF CRAJIS. 155 

implacable ferocity, we do not find in the crab. It 
seems that this gallant chevalier, covered with a 
thick cuirass, has his fits of anger^ his joys after a 
triumph, and is very sensible to the dishonour of 
defeat. The most deadly combats will take place 
between crabs With their great claws they seize on 
the hind-legs of their adversaries, and the latter find 
it no easy matter to withdraw their limbs safe and 
sound. Where is the brigand that would take 
pleasure in tearing his adversary limb from limb ? 
Instances of such cruelty have occurred, but they are 
happily rare. Procrustes does not often find imitators. 
That which disgusts us is the nonchalance with which 
crabs indulge themselves in this luxury, often carrying 
ofi* with them, as a trophy, a foot or a leg of their 
enemy. They are so irascible, that, if we were to 
put one of his own legs between a crab' s claws, he 
would attack it without perceiving that he was him- 
self the aggressor, and would continue to pinch and 
tear himself for a long time after he discovered the fact. 

It is not always against his own species that the 
crab directs his attacks. With his great pincers and 
his armour-like shell, which render him almost in 
vulnerable, he is the doughty enemy of all the small 
marine animals. 

But, as with the knights of old, that very armour is 
"ometimes the cause of danger to him. The growth 



15G THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

of the shell by no means keeps pace with the growth 
of the crab. There are times when you will see him 
painfully squeezed up in an unyielding garment too 
small for his body. Day after day the bondage 
grows more intolerable ; the creature's limbs are para- 
lysed, his whole life is an agony ; at length the crisis 
arrives, and, with an extraordinary effort, he suddenly 
breaks out of his prison and gains his liberty. Many 
die in making this painful effort ; old crabs have had 
the benefit of the experience two or three times re- 
peated. In the case of the domestic crab, which inha- 
bits the craggy coasts of Europe and the West Indies, 
the change takes place between Christmas and 
Easter. Until the new shell acquires its destined 
hardness, the sole covering of the liberated crab is a 
skin-like soddened parchment ; in this unprotected 
condition it retires into the clefts of the rocks, or 
buries itself under the sand, where it remains in a 
state of absolute immobility. But all these ruses are 
of little avail ; its enemies pursue it with an avidity 
all the greater that the crab is known to be less 
capable of resistance, and it is with difficulty that it 
escapes their vengeance. 

The lobster changes its shell like the crab. Some 
days before the period of renewal the animal seems 
stupefied ; he settles down in a state of torpidity, and 
the first sign of returniug activity is when he throws 



CllAHACTER OF THE LOBS'lKli. 137 

himself upon his back, and battles with his pincers 
one against the other. Then a shudder runs through 
his hmbs and his whole body ; tliey throb and dilate, 
the joints of the armour open along the belly, those 
of the claws come apart — tlie moment of the creature's 
deliverance is at hand. But when thus freed from 
his sliell. the lobster is so feeble that he remains 
altogether without motion, and in this state becomes 
the easy prey of cod and other ravenous fishes. His 
own species, however, are in general his most dan- 
gerous neighbours. They have the meanness to 
devour the smallest and feeblest of their kind, even 
preferring them to the little worms hidden in the 
sand, or to the spawii of fish. 

The greater part of a lobster's life is passed in a 
retreat which he selects between two rocks. This 
lurking-place is scarcely larger than the animal 
himself, and from thence he springs with agility 
upon his prey. The instant any danger menaces him 
he flies rapidly towards his den, springing from the 
ground tail-foremost, and sometimes clearing more 
than thirty feet at a single bound. 

This armour-plated brigand, so ready to pounce 
on his defenceless prey, is so far from being a hero, 
that certain species, wdiose coat-of-mail is partly de- 
fective, are glad to take refuge in the deserted shell 
of a brother crustacean. This is the case with the 



158 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

hermit or soldier-erab. His armour, defensive and 
offensive, consists of two great claws, as large as a 
man's thumb, and so powerful that they are capable 
of making very deep wounds. This ugly fellow may 
often be seen on the rolled pebbles of a beach, drag- 
ging his old house behind him. Presently he stops 
before an empty crabshell, he examines it under all 
its aspects, and, after withdrawing his tail from his 
old abode, he tries to enter backwards, as his wont, 
into the new house. Probably he does not find it to 
his taste, in which case he tucks himself into his 
former habitation, and marches off again in search of 
a more convenient apartment. He looks at one shell 
after another, until he finds an abode to his liking ; 
he then huddles himself into it, though it may be 
sufficiently capacious to contain not only his body but 
his great claws. It occasionally happens that two of 
these animals select the same shell for their lodging. 
When this happens, they fight with their claws till 
the weaker is obliged to give way. The victor then 
takes possession of his conquest, and for some time 
marches boastfully up and down before his discom- 
fited rival. 

Among the smallest of these crustaceans, there is 
one (the Bernhardus, or hermit-crab) which has a 
penchant for the shells of the small molluscs. It is 
only partly armed, having a helmet and a breast- 



THE TORPEDO AND GYMNOTlhS. 159 

plato, while tlie rest of its body is covered witli a solt 
skin. The hermit does not trouble itself to look ibi- 
an empty shell, or to drive the owner of a shell out 
of his home; he wisely eats him. The CoquiJIauni- 
valva — helix-shaped, liked our garden snail — is easy 
to transport. Having devoured the inhabitant, and 
comfortably ensconced himself in one of tliese shells, 
some imprudent neighbour of the supposed molla>c 
approaches to make a meal of him, — tlie crab's liead 
pops out, and the would-be eater is eaten. 

Let us return to the high seas. There we find 
the ray, a flat fish, witli two different coloured sur- 
faces. The skin of some species is so rough that it 
is employed, like that of the sea-cow, to polish ivory 
and various woods. A powerful jaw, in some in- 
stances a tail set with s])ines, are for the ray for- 
midable weapons. In fact, all these monsters are 
apparently furnished with means of defence, and 
breathe defiance to their victims even from a dis- 
tance. Sometimes their striking colours, or the 
phosphorescent aureole which surrounds them, awakes 
the attention of the feeble, and gives them time to 
prepare for the attack. 

In the torpedo and the gymnotus there is nothing 
outward to suggest how terribly they are armed. The 
one formed like the raiadsB, the other like an eel or 
snake, they carry weapons more to be dreaded than 



160 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

those of any animals of their species. Any fish that 
approaches them is killed, as with a stroke of light- 
ning, and devoured without a struggle. Touch 
them, and a shock is given like that of an electric 
charge ; yet certain authors assure us that the negroes 
handle the torpedo without danger. 

The electrical power of the gymnotus was unknown 
in Europe until 1671, wlien the astronomer Bicher, 
who was sent on a mission to Cayenne by the French 
Academy of Sciences, observed and made known the 
remarkable power of this fish. " I was much as- 
tonished," says Richer, " to see a fish resembling an 
eel, some three or four feet in length, deprive of all 
motion for a quarter of an hour the arm and shoulder 
of one who touched it with his finger or with a stick. 
I was not only an eyewitness of this effect, but 1 
have myselt' felt it on touching one of these fishes, 
still living, though wounded by the hook with which 
the Indians had drawn it from the water." 

The savans of Paris were at that time a sceptical 
people. Eicher's account made so little impression 
on them, that for seventy years no naturalist troubled 
himself to inquire into it. This indifference lasted to 
the time of Condamine, who spoke, in his " Voyages 
en Ameriqtie," of a fish which produced the effects 
described by Richer. The phenomenon now excited 
attention. Dr. Ingram published some views about 



ANIMATED FORESTS. 101 

it in 1750, and attributed the effects to electricity. 
The Dutch physician and philosopher, Gravesend(.\ 
recognised the galvanic nature of tlie shocks given 
by this animal. " The effect produced by this 
fish," he wrote in 1755, " is the same as that 
caused by the Leyden jar, only with this difference, 
that no spark is observed, however strong the shock 
raay be; for if the fish is a large one, those who 
touch it are struck down, and feel the shock through 
their whole body." 

The gymnotus does not seem to make any use of 
his weapon except in self-defence. He feeds ou 
small fishes and worms, of which great numbers aie 
found in the waters of South America and the Indian 
seas. The torpedo is more cosmopolitan ; it is no- 
toriously frequent in the seas of Europe. These two 
monsters, depositories of thunder, appear to share 
between them the universe of waters. Like the ray, 
the turbot, and the sole, the torpedo prefers for his 
portion the sandy flats and shallows ; the gymnotus 
hides among the rocks, in clear waters, and in the 
neighbourhood of rivers, which he often ascends. 



4. Animated Forests — Animal Stones. 

The bottom of the sea is an enchanted country ; 
the animals, its inhabitants, are self-luminous; they 



162 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

thunder upon their enemies from a distance; tliey 
harden themselves into stone. 

We read that Daphne was transformed into a 
laurel. The narrators of this fable have not depicted 
for us the sufferings of that unfortunate maiden, her 
languor, the growing numbness of her limbs, her feet 
dried up and spreading into long roots, her arms 
shaping into branches covered with a polished 
bark. But this dream is realised in the Ocean every 
moment. There is no region with a favourable 
climate and an agreeable site, where animals are not 
found living in colonies, and working, by their petri- 
faction, at the construction of rocks and reefs of an 
immense extent. 

Heat favours their development. No part of the 
world presents them in the same marvellous variety 
as the Great Ocean and the Indian seas : " If we direct 
our gaze into the liquid crystal of the Indian Ocean, 
we shall there see realised the most wonderful dreams 
and fairy-tales of our childhood. Fantastic bushes 
bearing living flowers, the massive structure of the 
meandrina and astrea contrasting with the branchy 
tufts of the explanaria, which blossom in the form of 
cups, with the madriporidse, of elegant structure and 
ever-varying ramifications. Everywhere throughout 
this region the eye is charmed with the brilliancy of 
colour : delicate shades of sea-green alternating with 



COLOUR OF MARINE VEGETATIOX. 163 

browns and yellows, rich purple tints passing from 
the most vivid red to the deepest blue ; nuUipores, 
yellow or pink, delicately touched as the peach, 
covering decaying plants with a fresh development 
of life, and themselves enveloped with a black tissue 
of retipores resembling the most delicate carvings 
in ivory. Near by wave the yellow and lilac fans of 
the gorgona, worked liked jewelry in filigree. 
Strewn over the sandy bottom are thousands of 
sea-stars and sea-urchins of the most curious forms and 
varied colours. The flustra, the eschara attached 
to branches of coral-like mosses and lichens, and 
the patellidse striped with yellow and purple, look 
like great cochineal insects on the ground. Then 
the sea-anemones, looking like immense cactus-flowers, 
brilliant with the most glaring colours, adorn the 
clefts of the rocks with their waving crowns, or 
spread out their blooms, till the sea-bottom resembles 
a border of many-coloured ranunculuses. Around 
the coral-bushes play the hummingbirds of the ocean 
— brilliant little fishes, now sparkling with metallic 
red or blue, now with a golden green, or \\ ith the soft 
hue of silver. All this marvellous nuinifestation of 
life is displayed in the midst of the most rapid alter- 
nations of light and shade, changing with every 
breath, with every undulation that ripples the sur- 
face of the sea. When daylight declines, the shadows 



164 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

of night spread in the deep waters, the exquisite garden 
which they cover is lighted up with new splendours. 
The medusae and the microscopic crustaceans shine 
in the darkness like fairy-stars. The pennatula, which 
during the day is of a reddish cinnabar colour, floats 
in a phosphorescent light ; every corner of the sea- 
bottom sends out its ray of colour ; objects that look 
brown and dull in the universal radiation of daylight, 
now shine with the most charming green, yellow, and 
red light ; and to complete the marvels of this en- 
chanted night-scene, the large silver disc of the moon 
of the sea {Ortliagoriscus mola, commonly called the 
moon-fish), moves softly through the whirling vortices 
of little stars. The most luxuriant vegetation of the 
tropics fails to develope so much wealth of form, and 
lags far behind the magnificent gardens of the ocean, 
composed almost entirely of animals, for variety and 
brilliance of colour. That marine fauna is not less 
remarkable for its extraordinary development than 
the abundant vegetation of the bed of the sea in the 
temperate zones. All that is beautiful, marvellous, 
or extraordinary in the great classes offish, of echino- 
dermata, of medusae, of polypi, and of shell-covered 
molluscs bred in the warm and limpid waters of the 
tropical ocean, repose there on the white sands, at- 
tach themselves to the rough rocks, or (should the 
place they covet be already occupied) fasten like 



SrOAGES. 105 



parasites on other existences as wonderful as them- 
selves, or float on the surface and in the depths in the 
midst of a vegetation relatively rare."* 



5. Sponges. 

For a long time the zoophytes were taken for in- 
durated marine plants. Their animal nature, and 
their likeness to animals under forms and aspects so 
grotesquely various, were not thoroughly recognised 
until our own times ; the name they still retain re- 
calls their apparent analogy to vegetables. 

The characters of animality which they present 
endure but for an insignificant period of their exist- 
ence. At first they move freely in the water, some 
solid body arrests them in their course, the young 
animal whose body is sometimes — in the sponges, for 
example — surrounded with vibratile cilise, attaches 
itself to the obstruction, where it soon loses all power 
of movement, and commences a series of strange meta- 
morphoses. The body, at first gelatinous, breaks 
into holes, which change by extension into winding 
canals, traversing the mass in all directions. In 
these winding channels the water circulates, and 
brings to the animal whatever substance may be 

* Schleiden, La Phnte et sa Vie. 



166 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

necessary to its development. The creature lias lost 
its mobility, and become to all appearance an inert 
mass. It resembles a most irregular and ill-formed 
vegetable ; the holes begin to bristle with liorny fila- 
ments entangled one in the other, and constituting a 
kind of solid carpentry. By-aud-by other siliceous 
or calcareous hlaments mingle with the first, and fill 
up the cavities which had been left among them. 
The forms of these are most varied according to the 
species to which they belong, and often spicula? very 
different in their aspect are combined in the same 
individual. They are generally so small that their 
nature is only discovered by means of the microscope. 
With its aid some are seen to be shaped like har- 
poons, some like stakes with pointed ends, some like 
stars or crystal knots of the most curious forms. 

The various species of sponge are distinguished by 
their tissue being more or less close, more or less 
crooked . Sometimes their mass is surrounded in nearly 
every part with a siliceous or calcareous envelope. 
The coasts of Europe furnish some sponges of this kind, 
but the most remarkable come from the sea of the 
Antilles and from that of Japan. Sometimes the 
siliceous spiculse fill the tissues so completely that the 
sponge serves as a polishing material. The use, how- 
ever, to which the sponge is generally destined is 
suggested by the facility with which it takes up 



I lit,) 1,1.; 



f 




STRUCTURE OF SPONGES. 1G9 

watei". Most of the s])('cies are unfit for tliat |)ur 
])Ose ; they are very minKU'ous, and appear to inhabit 
indifferently every sea, being more abundant, liovv- 
ever, near the equator. 

The Ked Sea, the coasts of Syria, the seas of 
America, the Middle Atlantic, and the Southern Seas, 
are rich in sponges capable of seiving for domestic 
purposes. 

Sponges are torn from the rocks to which they are 
attached by divers, who pursue their trade more par- 
ticularly in the seas of Asia. Should we not feel 
astonished by the low price at which tliey can be 
sold, when we reflect that every sponge collected in 
the submarine forest has been gathered at the risk ot 
death to one of these unfortunate men, to whom life 
is nothing but one long agony ? 

At certain periods of the year certain ovoid or 
spherical corpuscles are developed in the spongy 
mass, and thence j)ass into the channels with which 
the sponge is pierced. Carried out into the sea by 
the currents of water which circulate in these chan- 
nels, they propagate the sponge in the manner de- 
scribed above. 

When the spongy mass, for any reason whatever, 
decays or breaks up, the spiculse are scattered upon 
the bottom. In some seas, such as the Indian Ocean, 
the sea of coral, tlio specimens of the bottom, taken 



170 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

from tlie depth ol' about four miles, are principally 
formed of these spicnlae; tbey accumulate in thick 
and far-extended beds, the importance of which in 
course of time, relative to the surface-form of the 
globe, must be very considerable. 



6. Polypi— Their general structure — Eeproduction of Polypi^ 
Vegetative life of Polypi — The Polypier — Two great classes 
of Polypi distinguished by the form of the Polypier — The 
Tubipora musica. 

Most of the polypi live in colonies, and find a point 
of support on the rocks. We say live, but more 
strictly speaking they vegetate, their movements 
being extremely limited. Their bodies become en- 
crusted with calcareous matter, and life gradually 
withdraws from the petrifying animal. Eggs aban- 
doned to the sea at various periods of the year, or 
buds developed on the polypus, are two methods 
equally common by which they are propagated. 

Tlie body of the polypus is soft ; its form is that 
of a hollow cylinder; at one of its extremities an 
opening serves for the introduction of aliment into 
the body of the animal, and for the expulsion of 
matters which have not served for its nutrition. This 
single opening of the body is surrounded with iieshy 
appendices or tentacles, more or less numerous ; the 
digestive apparatus, however, is not always marked 



STRUCTURE OF POLYPI. 171 

by tin's simplicity of structure. It is often formed of 
a double pocket, the one completely enveloping the 
other. The animal in this case might be well 
enough described as a sack, closed at one of its ex- 
tremities, and with its superior or opened part folded 
back upon the bottom. 

The tentaculae are always hollow, and all the 
cavities communicate one with another. Leaf-like 
formations, or foldings of the envelope of the body 
close the internal cavity ; the walls of that cavity 
reunite at the base of the animal. They contract or 
they dilate at its pleasure, in order to give free pas- 
sage to the aliment prepared for nourishment in 
that first chamber. Matters unfit for nutrition are at 
the same time ejected, by the only door which has 
given them entrance. Between the wall of this 
stomach, and the exterior envelope of the animal's 
body, a sort of double bottom, imperfectly partitioned 
off, collects the aliments that have been suitably 
prepared, and it is there that the eggs of the animal 
are lodged. 

The spaces left between the foldings of the skin in 
that second pouch are prolonged into the tentaculae, 
which the animal can withdraw into itself at will, 
or spread out like the blossom of a flower. Fig. 29 
fihows the polypus in its various degrees of expansion. 
The entire polypus is enveloped in a great number of 



172 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

species, with a tough sheath from which it projects 
itself at will. Fig. 30 represents a number of sucii 
polypi indrawn — that is to say, with the body of the 
polypus retracted and hidden under the protecting 
envelope which surrounds its base. 




Fig. 29. — Coral with Polypi more or less expanded. 

The polypi, whose digestive apparatus is formed of 
a single pouch, are called hydras or sertularias ; those 
whose digestive apparatus is formed of a double 
pouch, are corallines, or polypi proper. 

The inferior extremity of the polypus is the pro- 
longation of that envelope, but mo e hardened, in 



TIIK rOlAJ'IER. 



173 



which, as we have seen, the animal lias power to 
sliut itself up. It is the point of adherence to the 
foreign body, to which the polypus fixes itsel^. 

Polypi reproduce themselves in 
two different ways — by eggs and by 
buds. The eggs, or larvae, are 
lodged on the walls of the only 
cavity which encloses the body of 
the animal. At certain periods of 
the year, they leave the body and 
float in the water, as we have seen 
is the case with the sponges also, 
until they meet with a place upon 
which they can root themselves. 

We have already observed that 
the sponge, during a greater part 
of its existence, lives a vegetative 
life. So, when a polypus is once fixed upon a solid 
body, its base extends. If other animals of tlie same 
species join it to form a colony, or if it produce buds, 
the mass gradually increases. Each polypus secretes 
a matter which, on hardening, becomes horny or 
stony, and constitutes the polypier, or polypus tree. 
The nature and form which the polypier gives to the 
colony serves to characterise the different kinds of 
animals of this class. 

An inspection of the polypier constructed by 




Fig. 30. — Branch of 
Coial with Polypi 
indrawn. 



174 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

polypi, suggests their division into two great classes, 
a division which has been already indicated by the 
essential difference we have pointed out in the 
digestive apparatus of the different species. The 
hydras grow from the exterior — that is to say, they 
surround themselves with a horny or stony envelope, 
whilst they have no interior calcareous basis or 
polypier. The corallines present a character alto- 
gether the opposite. They have an internal polypier — 
that is to say, the hardest parts of the polypus tree 
are in the interior, and the living bed in the midst of 
which are the polypi is superficial. 

One particular kind of polypus, originally from the 
Indian Ocean, produces a very remarkable polypier. 
It is formed of tubes in regular juxtaposition with 
each other, and joined by transverse partitions run- 
ing from one to the other (fig. 31). It is for this 
reason called the Tuhijpora musica, or organ-pipe 
coral. The tubes are placed next to each other, like 
those of a mouth-organ. In the engraving it is re- 
presented half the natural size. 

The organ-pipe coral is of a beautiful red colour. 
The first naturalist who observed it in the Indian 
Ocean took it for a colony of great marine worms, and 
it is only in recent times that its true nature has been 
luily understood. 

This polypus is not an ordinary hydra, notwith- 



ORGAN-PIPE COIiAL. 175 

(Standing the tubular form assumed by the hardened 
envelopes. The i)olypi in tlie tubipora are, in fact, 
coQipletely independent of one another. When 
iresh inhabitants are added to the colony, they grow- 
by placing themselves parallel to tlieir predecessors, 
to whom thev are attached by transverse partitions. 




Fig. 31. — Organ-pipe Coral. 

Each polypus lives and grows in its own tube, and 
holds no relations with the others, except that of good 
neighbourhood, when it leaves its abode to spread its 
snares for the little marine animals. It is not so 
with the true hydras. In them the hardened enve- 
lope resembles a continuous canal, uniting all the 
polypi one with another. At whatever point of the 
common trunk a bud is produced, the calcareous 
matter envelopes it, and establishes its immediate 
relationship with the rest of the colony. 



176 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



7. Hydra, type of the Hydrozoa or Hydra Polyps— Extraordinary 
properties of the Hydra discovered by Trembley — Mariue 
Hydrozoa. 

The hydrozoa owe their name to a special type, 
the hydra, which inhabits fresh waters. The cele- 
brated naturalist Trembley, tutor to the sons of 
Count Bentinck in Holland, was the first to re- 
cognise their nature, in 1740. The remarkable pro- 
perties which he discovered among these little beings 
struck the learned of the eighteenth century with 
astonishment. The flesh-eating habits and the spon- 
taneous movements which he had remarked among 
the hydrae led him to believe they were animals, while 
their appearance resembled that of aquatic plants. 

Trembley made the following decisive experi- 
ment. Plants have the property of reproducing 
themselves by cuttings — that is to say, a branch of 
the plant being cut off, and planted under suitable 
conditions, roots develope themselves at the cut ex- 
tremity, and the branch becomes a plant similar to 
its parent. As no known animals possessed thLa 
singular faculty, it was to be presumed that the 
hydra would not reproduce itself by cuttings. What 
then was the astonishment of Trembley when he 
observed, some days after the mutilation of a polyp, 
each morsel transformed into a complete body. 



THE UIDROZOA. • 177 

Iiaving the same characters as the creature of wliich 
it had hitely formed a part ! 

Evidently science had become enriched by the 
discovery of a new fact. Her chissification had 
proved defective, inasmuch as an attribute con- 
sidered as peculiar to plants had been proved by 
this experiment to belong to creatures of which 
the animal nature was incontestable. HeuLe, not- 
withstanding the difficulty of communication among 
the learned in those days compared with the present 
time, this new experience was speedily rumoured 
throughout Europe. Every naturalist repeated the 
experiment for himself: at first, upon polypi which 
Trembley sent in his letters, after having had them 
properly dried ; afterwards upon specimens which 
they found for themselves in stagnant waters. 
Keaumur was one of the first. " I declare," said he, 
" when I saw for t'le first time two polyps gradually 
form themselves from one that I had cut into two 
pieces, I could hardly believe my eyes ; and the truth 
is, I am not yet accustomed to the belief, although 
I have repeated the experiment a hundred timea 
over." Soon afterwards, Reaumur began to observe 
the same phenomenon in various species of worms, 
and that which had seemed incredible was soon 
recognised as being but another of the common phe- 
nomena of nature. 

N 



178 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

This is but one example of the fate common to 
great discoveries. At first, people are astonished by 
them, and receive them incredulously ; afterwards, as 
facts accumulate, it seems as if each experimenter had 
either made the discovery for himself, or very nearly 
approached it. If the reader has followed, even in a 
general sort of way, the scientific movement, he will 
be able to recall in illustration of this fact the new 
ideas introduced into meteorology by the learned 
physician, M. Marie Davy ; how doubtfully his first 
communications upon the general cause of storms 
was received, how people hesitated in the very pre- 
sence of the facts by which the exactness of his obser- 
vations was verified, and how the merit due to the 
first observer has finally been acknowledged. 

Let us return to Trembley's hydra. Its body is 
soft, and consists of one long pouch with a single 
opening. The pouch is surrounded with tentacles, 
which in the species we are describing are six in 
number. On the walls of the membranous sac whicli 
constitutes the animal, the buds or eggs develope 
themselves. The latter, having arrived at a certain 
size, leave their first home and float freely in the 
w^ater. The buds can either separate themselves from 
the mother hydra, or remain fixed to her ; in the latter 
case the same foot or stalk bears two hydras, the 
one of which is, so to speak, grafted upon the other. 



TREMB LEY'S H YD II A. 179 

Hydras are Ibiiiid in grassy waters, lakes, pools, 
and canals. The best mean cf procuring them is 
to take haphazard, from the water supposed to 
contain them, any aquatic plants, leaves of trees 
that have fallen into the water, or bits of \AOod 
which have accumulated there, and to these the 
hydras will be found attached. They transport 
themselves from one point to another by swimming 
or crawling. 

Trembley has made a special study of three species 
of hydra. He has named them the long-armed ^^cly- 
pus, green polypus, and hrotvn or grey polypus (Hydi-a 
Grisea). Their bodies, which are very contractile, 
are variously formed. The tentaculae are often 
immoveable. The ordinary species, including their 
arms, may reach five-eighths of an inch in length, 
but other species attain larger dimensions. 

Ancient writers mention, under the name of hydra, 
a mythologic animal with seven heads, each of which 
was reproduced as fast as it was cut off. Trembley 's 
hydi-a, more accomplished than tbis fabulous animal, 
formed two perfect creatures when divided. Nor 
is this all. What does the reader, when made 
acquainted with the fact for the first time, think of 
an animal able to turn itself inside-out like a glove 
without ceasing to live ? Trembley tells us that his 
hydra undergoes this operation without being in the 



J 80 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

least degree incommoded. "I have seen," he says, 
in his fourth memoir, " a polypus turned inside-out, 
which has eaten a little worm two days after the 
operation. Others have not recovered their appetite 
so quickly ; they have been four or five days, more or 
less, without wanting to eat. After that time they 
ate as well as other polyps which had retained their 
proper insides. I have kept a polyp that had been 
turned inside-out more than two years. His progeny 
had become very numerous. Once, w^hen I had suc- 
cessfully turned a few polyps, I was impressed to 
repeat the experiment in the presence of good ob- 
servers, that I might be able to cite other evidence 
than my own in proof of this strange fact. I succeeded 
so well that others attempted to follow my example. 
Monsieur Allamand, whom I begged to try, suc- 
ceeded as well as myself. He has turned many 
polyps, and some that he experimented upon have 
remained inside-out and continued to live. He has 
even done more than this : he has turned polypi again 
which had been turned some time before, and this 
although they had eaten after the first experiment. 
He even found that they ate as well after the second 
operation. Finally, he turned some a third time, but 
they died after a few days, without having recovered 
their appetites. Whether their decease was owing 
to the operation or not cannot very well be decided." 



SEA-WltJ':ATHS. 181 

The hydra feeds on the larva? of insects. Though 
less formidable than its mythologic namesake, its 
natural properties are, to say the least, quite as re- 
markable. What can be more insignificant to all 
appearance than a creature so small that its thread- 
like body cannot very well be studied without the 
aid of a magnify in g-glass or a microscope ! But 
what more curious in reality ! And how greatly 
has the discoverer been rewarded for his devotion to 
science by the ever-increasing importance of the 
facts he has made known! It is thus that Nature 
rewards the labourers who devote their lives to the 
contemplation of her marvellous works. 

Hydras proper inhabit the fresh waters ; sea-wreaths 
or sertnlarise, which have an analogous structure, 
are well known to those observers of nature who 
pursue their studies on the shores of the ocean. 
The buds, which in the case of the hydras proper 
generally detach themselves from the mother-stalk, 
remain fixed to it in the case of the sertularian 
polypi. The result is that a horny polypier is formed 
exteriorly, not interiorly, the polypi being enclosed 
in the orifices of the horny envelope. The latter 
also assumes the most varied forms. It often fixes 
itself at the bottom of the sea, but also often rests 
there without rooting itself. The polypier of the 
hydra proper adheres to the soil by its base. In its 



182 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

perfection it may be compare 1 to a tree. Marine 
plants are generally attached to it, and at its ex- 
tremities are stalks analogous to those of flowers. 

One entire family of polyps is remarkable for its 
attachment to a common stalk, which is capable of 
supporting the colony without fixing itself to the 
bottom of the sea. The foot buries itself in the 
mud or sand, or, better still, the polypier floats in 
the water. This is the family of pennatulae, of which 
we will mention only three examples — the pennatula, 
the virgularia, and the veretillwn. 

The virgularia has a rough resemblance to a pen. 
The polypier is in the form of a cylinder split length- 
wise. The principal s^em does not itself bear any 
polypi, but they are attached, like blossoms, to the 
short lateral branches which proceed from the stem 
at equal distances from the top of the polypier almost 
to its other extremity. 

The Pennatula spinosa (fig. 32) is destitute ot 
polyps over the greater part of its surface. They are 
arranged to the right and left of a large stem, upon 
fan-like branches. The foot, which serves to fix 
the polypier in the sand, is shaped like the hilt of a 
sword. 

In the VeretiUum ci/nomorium (fig. 33) the polypi 
are arranged with great regularity over the greater 
part of the polypier. They are inserted directly in 



rLWNATUL.E. 



18,J 



the fleshy matter which fills the interior oltlie common 
stalk. A cylindrical prolongation of the stalk serves, 
as in the Fennatula spinosa, for the instantaneous 





Fig. 32. — Sea-pen iPennatulaspinosa). Fig. 33. — ^Veretillum Cynomorium, 

mplantation of the entire colony in the place chosen 
for its residence. 



184 TJJE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

The pennatulse rank with animals which are gene- 
rally phosphorescent — that is to say, which emit light 
in the night. They abound most near the shores 
of European seas. Cuvier gave them the name of 
*' swimming polypi " {Polypes nageurs). 



8. Actiniae— Sea-Anemones— Sea-Nettles. 

The actinse, or sea-anemones, though independcint 
creatures, attach themselves firmly (and for a con- 
siderable length of time without changing their 
locality) to the rocks. Adhesion is effected by 
means of a large and fleshy base, which secretes a 
glutinous matter, and it depends entirely on the 
will of the animal. It moves from one situation to 
another when it pleases, using its tentaculse as feet, 
or gliding along at tlie bottom of the sea by a move- 
ment which can scarcely be perceived. 

The actiniae appear under the most varied aspects, 
owing to the innumerable modifications of which the 
tentaculse are susceptible, and to the diversfied cha- 
racters of the foot itself. We may compare one of 
these creatures to a flower plunged in water, with 
petals so soft and flexible that they yield to its 
slightest movements. At one moment they may be 
seen gathered together to agitate the water, as a 
means of renewing its freshness before the mouth 



ACTINIA.— SEA-NETTLES. 185 

which they protect ; at another they contract and 
disappear before some threatened danger, or they 
stretch themselves out to seize their ahnost invisible 
prey. 

The exterior surface of the actinaria is tliickly set 
with oblong lance-shaped prominences, terminating 
in a stylet, rigid and sometimes barbed, to which is 
probably due the burning sensation produced by their 
contact. It is from that sensation that this species of 
polyps has derived the name of sea-nettles. They 
have been called anemones, from their resemblance to 
that beautiful flower, and actinia (starlike) from the 
rays or tentacles which surround the mouth. 

The coralline polyps are all, like the actinaria, 
armed with spiculae, of which the forms are most 
varied, according to the species. Fig. 34 
shows the general character of these 
spiculae. The body of the actinia, almost 
cylindrical when extended, is contrac- 
tile. It becomes globular, or almost 
spherical, when the animal is folded 
back upon itself. Its tentacles are Fig. 34. 
then contracted, and almost completely ^Co^ai ^ 
covered by the tough envelope of the 
body. When extended they serve to arrest by simple 
contact the little marine animals which touch them. 

The actiniae do not reside in great depths. They 




186 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

are generally found attached to rocks in the neigh- 
bourhood of coasts. They are almost all useless, but 
one species is eaten in Provence and at Nice. It is 
very soft and of a greenish colour, with brown stains 
on the body. The extremities of its ten taeniae, often 
very long, are frequently of a pinkish hue. 

These animals, unlike coralline polyps, are nearly 
always found separate from other individuals of their 
species. While other polypi are for the most part 
bound to their native place, the actinaria are free to 
choose their abode, and change it at pleasure. 



9. Coral — Miraculous virtue attributed to Coral by ancient tradi- 
tion — Coral Stone— Coral Plant — Marsigli discovers the Flowers 
of the Coral — Observations of M. Lacaze-Duthiers. 

One of the most interesting of the fixed polypi is, 
without doubt, the coral. Naturalists of ancient 
times regarded it as a stone, or as the solid axis of a 
marine plant. Dioscorides thought it to be a marine 
shrub which hardened on being taken out of the sea 
and exposed to the air. He even thought it petrified 
if touched while it was alive in the water. In 1585, 
the Chevalier J. B. de Nicolai, previous to fishing- 
coral on the coasts of Tunis, persuaded a fisherman 
to dive for the purpose of ascertaining whether the 
coral, in situ, was hard or soft. Contrary to the 



NA TUBE OF CORAL. 187 

opinion of ancient times, this man reported that it 
was hard. Nicolai, resolved to be sure of the fact, 
dived himself, and ascertained the truth of tlie man's 
statement. 

In 1(371, an Italian naturalist decided that as coral 
had neither flowers nor leaves, nor seeds nor fruits, 
it ought to be classed with stones. This idea seemed 
all the more strange, considering that after the time 
of Nicolai, a Lyonnese gentleman, named Poitier, 
had observed, in 1613, the presence of a milky juice 
in fresh coral, and had demonstrated that it was only 
necessary to remove a kind of crust to give it the 
polish and the red colour. 

Marsigli, in 1706, announced to the Academy of 
Sciences that he had discovered small white bodies, 
like flowers, on the surface of the coral. So long as 
he left the branch of coral in sea-water, the flowers 
remained expanded ; but they instantly closed when 
the coral was taken from the water, reappearing as 
instantly when it was replaced. Without investigat- 
ing whether these might be animals or not, Marsigli 
concluded that the coral was a plant. 

The merit of having discovered the true nature of 
coral belongs exclusively to a Frenchman, Jean 
Andre de Peyssonnel, a physician and botanist, whose 
observations were made on the coasts of Provence and 
Barbary, at the instance of the Academy of Sciences. 



188 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

The Museum of Natural History at Paris possesses 
the unprinted manuscripts which contain the results 
of his studies of the nature of coral, and of many 
zoophytes. He demonstrates tliat the coral branch 
is an aggregation of animalcules, and he compares 
them to the sea-nettles, whose name was already 
known. "I have had," he says, "the pleasure of 
seeing removed the claws or feet of that nettle, and 
having put the vessel of water, in which the coral 
was placed, over a fire, all the animalcules expanded. 
I stirred the fire and caused the water to boil, when 
the creatures came out of the coral precisely as when 
one cooks any kind of shellfish."* 

This discovery was opposed to so many prejudices 
that it was badly received for some time. Keaumur, 
whose name was then all-powerful in science, ex- 
pressed ironically his dissent, without having in the 
least attempted to test the researches of Peyssonnel, 
and this probably prevented the publication of a 
manuscript which would be well worthy of being 
rescued from oblivion. 

Numerous other labours in this field of research, 
among which those of M. Lacaze-Duthiers may be 
mentioned as not the least remarkable, have made 
us pretty well acquainted with the nature of coral. 
It results from the interior hardening of a polypier, 

* l^aite'du Corail 



VARIETIES OF CORAL. 183 

or colony of })olyps. Thr. supposed crust is simply 
the newest part, and as it has not acfpiired the 
consistency of the interior mass, it is not capable 
of being utilised commercially. The polypi are 
lodged in the little cavities or hollows of that 
crust, which they secrete, and which serves them ibr 
support. 



10. Coral chiefly found in the Mediterranean Sea — Various species 
of Coral — The Coral Fishery — Antipathes, commonly called 
Black Coral. 

The coral of which we are here to speak is that 
beautiful production of the seas with which ladies are 
familiar among their elegant articles of bijouterie, not 
the masses which form coral reefs in the Pacific 
Ocean. It is found in the Me literranean chiefl3^ but 
also in the lie I Sea. Its chief habitats are in the 
neighbourhood of Marseilles, on the coasts of Corsica^ 
Sardinia, Sicily, the Balearic Isles, and near Tunis 
and La Calle. Tlie last-mentioned locality has for a 
long time supplied the greater part of the coral of 
commerce. It is fixed to the rocks by an enlarge- 
ment of its base. The fishers state that its dimen- 
sions grow less in proportion as the depth at which it 
is found increases. It is generally fished in com- 
paratively shallow waters, ranging from ten to fifty 



190 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

yards, and is never taken at greater depths than frorc 
200 to 350 yards. 

The colour of coral is generally a beautiful red, 
but it is found of every intermediate tint between 
red and white. That fished on the coasts of France 
owes its celebrity to the richness of its colours. The 
different kinds are known to commerce under the 
various names of " blood coral," first, second, and 
third, &c., according to the shade. White coral is 
but little esteemed, if we except that kind known as 
*' Cornell an- white." 

The coral fishery is chiefiy in the hands of the 
Maltese, but it is also pursued by the Italians and the 
French. An idea of the manner in which it is 
practised on the coasts of Sicily will not be unin- 
teresting to the leader. The little fleet engaged in 
the fisheiy consists of small barks, attended by 
boats which are manned by three or four men, who 
take up various positions over the coral bank. I'he 
tackle used is a kind of drag with arms, worked by 
means of a capstan. Each branch or arm of the drag 
has a kind of netted sack at the end of it, into which 
the coral falls as it is broken off. Beneath the centre 
of the cross formed by the arms, a heavy stone is 
swung; and the whole apparatus is dragged along 
the rocky bottom by the forward motion of the 
vessel and the lifting motion of the capstan operated 



THE GORQONIDjE. 191 

at the same time. When the drag is pulled on deck, 
the available coral is selected from the mass and 
cleansed for sale. The occupation is a very laborious 
one, more especially as it is pursued under the burn- 
ing sun of the Mediterranean. 

Black coral, so called, is tlie stalk of a poly- 
pier of another species, called the antipathes. The 
polyps are very small, and have six tentaculse ; in the 
middle of them is the only opening of the creature's 
body, the internal texture of which is analogous to 
that which we have already described as common to 
polypi in general. It derives a certain commercial 
value from the fact that, in drying, the centre and 
hardened part of the stalk completely sheds the 
cortical envelope and the polypi attached to it. 



II. Gorgons of the old writers — Their animal nature discovered by 
Peyssonnel, Trembley, and Bernard de Jussieu— The Fan 
Gorgon — Its cosmopolitan character. 

The gorgons, so named by Pliny, were originally 
taken, like other polypiers, for marine plants. Even 
yet, we are not thoroughly acquainted with their 
manner of life. By means of the microscope, the 
naturalists of the last two centuries have been able 
to demonstrate the existence of these polyps, which 
uaa beeu legaftleu as iiyj\s'e£^. Peyssunnel, i'rembley. 



192 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



and, above all, Bernard de Jussieu and Guettard, 
liave demonstrated their animal nature. 

The polypier is flexible, in consequence of not 









:^y:.i^^\^ , 




Fig. 35. — Portion of the Vnu Gorgon, magnified, 

being entirely stony. It has, therefore, not been 
utilised in the arts. It has, however, been 



GORGOMA VEUTICELLATA. 108 

employed in the coDstructioii of small objects requii- 
ing a substance at once hard and elastic. 

Gorgons live, like other marine polyps, at th(3 
bottom of the sea, or upon marine bodies to which 
they attach themselves. As is the case with the 
coral and the antipathidse, a great number of indi- 
viduals live upon the same polypier. The body is 
retractile. Generally, it is small ; and, for many 
species, a magnifying-glass is necessary to distinguisli 
clearly the animal from the living fleshy crust which 
surrounds the polypier. 

The portion of the fan-gorgon represented in fig. 
35, shows the polypi in the form of small round 
tubercles with a hollow in their centre. The polypi 
are still more apparent in the whorled gorgon [Gor- 
gonia verticellata). This species has been so named 
because the polyps are grouped at different points of 
the stalk, and form at each of those points a whorl of 
animals all round the branch.* 

The gorgunidse display the most beautiful colours 
in the sea, but their hues fade soon after they have 
been taken from the water, and retain only the pah^ 
shadows of white, black, red, green, violet or yellow, 
such as we see in the collections. 

* The word vertlcellated is employed by botanists to designate the 
grouping of leaves which grow at the same heiglit upon n brancli 
arou'id which thry f rni a ,^ort of crown.— Tr. 



194 THE BOTTOM OF THE SE J. 

The poly pier of the gorgonicise is very variousl}' 
formed in the different species. Sometimes the 
branches are almost straight, as in the whorled 
gorgon ; sometimes they cross and interlace in a 
thousand ways, and give to the polypier the aspect 
of network, more or less close. 

The fan-gorgon is a remarkable example of this. 
The enlarged extremity of its principal stem, denuded 
of its living crust, is attached to the rock. From 
this stem spring many hard and naked branches, 
which, intersecting one \\ ith another, pass into a net- 
work in which the polypi live. 

In size the gorgon ida? range between two very 
distant limits. The smallest that has been studied 
may be less than an inch in height ; others reach 
many feet. Some fragments have been seen by the 
writer, which show that the entire individual was of 
still more considerable dimensions. 

These animals live at a great depth, and inhabit 
every sea. The fan-gorgon is more generally dis- 
tributed than any other. They most abound in the 
warmej' waters, as is the case with other species oi 
polyps. 



CALCAHEOVS I'OLYVll.US 195 



12. The more iictive submarine constructors Astroides — Caryo- 
phillia - IMailroporaPlantaginea — Dendrophyllia — Occulina, oi 
Wliite Coral — Meandrina — Fungia — Porites — Milleporje. 

The purely calcareous polypiers have their prin- 
cipal seat in tropical regions. These are the species 
which exercise the most marked iufiuenccj upon the 
varied surface of the sea-bottom, and which have 
distinguished themselves as the constructors of reefs 
and islands. The principal types of this class of 
polypiers are the caryopliillia, the meandrina, the 
fungia, and the pentacrini. For a long time these 
species were confounded together under the general 
name of madrepores, and it is only during late years 
that their polypi have been recognised. 

These polypi bear a very close resemblance to 
those of actiniae and corals; but tlie foldings whicli 
we have remarked in tlie digestive cavity are not 
connected, as is the case in the latter. They generally 
occur at the base, so as to constitute a central axis 
surrounded with raliating cells, whicli are only quite 
separated from each other at the lower part of the 
animal. Their similarity to the actiniae, already 
described, is apparent at first sight. In proportion 
as the polypier grows, its lower part becomes cal- 
careous, and reproduces in stone the soft structure 
that had been formed bv the living animal. The 



196 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

divisioDS of the fissures or cells harden graciiiall}^ 
owing to the deposit of calcareous matter in the 
interior of their tissue. It forms little transverse 
plates, which close the bottom of the cells, bounded 
by the radiating divisions. When the polyp dies, 
we discover at the bottom of the place which it oc- 
cupied a stony polypier, divided by plates which 
converge towards an axis, and terminate at the upper 
extremity by forming a little starry cup (fig. 36). 




Fig. 36. — Dendrophyllia Rnmea, 

1. Natural size, with polyps. 

2. Magnified, with the polyps dead. 

The difference between the various polypi of tin's 
group consists especially in their mole of repro- 



A^TliEA I'UyCTJFJ'JiA. 197 

duction, and in the consequent .'oini of the lolvpicr 
which they produce. When ti.e individiuds are 
isolated, or not closely grouped (fig. 37), the poly- 
pier attains no great dimensions. The caryophillia 
presents this character, and examples of them are to 
be found even in European seas. 

In other varieties the buds do not separate them- 




Fig. 37. — Caryophillia Cyatims. 

selves from tlie original stem, but remain an inteiirul 
part of it as they grow in number and size (fig. TS). 
They develope side by side, and are joined one to 
another by a comjiact tissue, which is thus formed 
into thick masses. The polypier is especially charac- 



198 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



terised by tlie continuity of each column down to 
the base. The species of astrea are numerous, more 
particularly in the neighbourhood of the equator. 

When the bads in the process of development do 
not remain parallel with the mother-branch, the 




Fig. 38. — Astrea Punctifera. 

polypier takes the form of a tree, more or less dis- 
tinctly. In this case, the name it bears recalls the 
vegetable form to which it approximates. The 
Madrepora ^lantaginea (fig. 39) is formed by the 
aggregation of small polypi joined together by masses 
more or less conical in form. To every polypus there 
is a corresponding little depression, surrounded with 
a slight eminence. In general appearance the poly^ 
pier with its polyps resembles a spike of plantain. 



AUBoAlSCJJXT I'OL Yl'lEUS 



199 



A deeper separatiun still of tlie polypi, as well as 
a greater amount of divergence one from another, 
brings us back to the arborescent forms assume 1 by 
the coral. 











Fig. 39. — Madrepora Plantaginea. 

The dendropliyllia, represented half the natural 
size (fig. 40), has a massive trunk, bv which it 



200 



THE LOTTOM OF TlTL: SEA. 



seems to grow out of tbe lock as a tree out of tbe 
grouud, and from which the branches proceed in all 
possible directioiis. At the extremities of the 




Fig. 40. — Dendrophyllia (half the natural size). 

branches are the cuplike hollows in which the 
polypi live. 



OCCULINA VIRGISEA. 201 

A kindred species, tlie occuUna, is remarkable 
for the excessive subdivision of its branches, as 
well as foi- their arrangenicnt. The polypi are 
found both on the surface of the stems, and at their 
extremities, and every one of them gives birth to 
a new branch — the whole constituting a very ele- 
gant treelike formation. The type of the species 
is the Occulwa virginea, sometimes called white 
coral. It is common in the Mediterranean, and is 
also found in the neighbourhood of the equator. 

No such symmetry as we liave observed in the 
coralline polypiers is to be found in the meandrina, 
or brain coral, of which there are some fine speci- 
mens in the British Museum. The polyps of this 
species have no tentacles around their mouths, but 
short lateral ones. They are huddled together in 
the shallow sinuosities which furrow the surface of 
the polypier ; bat sometimes they disappear alto- 
gether, as in a species found in the Red Sea. All 
that can be discovered in the furrows is a row of 
mouths. The sinuosities vary according to the 
species. Their numerous folds wind among one 
another like a maze, reminding one of the famous 
Cretan labyrinth ; hence the name given to this 
species {meandrina, meandering). They are generally 
globular, or nearly so, in form, and are found of 
various sizes on i&olated rocks. They are abundant 



202 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

in the Red Sea,* but are still more frequent in the 
equatorial seas, where their size and their general 
aspect have suggested the name by which they are 
sometimes called by sailors — Nejptunes Brain. A 
specimen in the British Museum is four feet in circum- 
ference. Their great size is accounted for by the 
manner of their formation. " As one ileshy mass ex- 
pires," observes Dr. Mantell, " another appears and 
gradually expands, pouring out its calcareous secre- 
tion on the parer t mass of coral : thus successive gene- 
ratioris go on accumulating vast beds of stony matter, 
and lay the foundation for coral reefs and islands." As 
remarke 1 in Lyell's " Principles of Geology," " We 
may compare the operations of the zoophytes in the 
ocean to the effects produced on a smaller scale on 
land by the plants which generate peat ;Jn which the 
upper part of the sjphagnum vegetates, while the lower 
is entering into a mineral mass, in which the traces of 
organisation remain when life has entirely ceased. In 
corals, in like manner, the more durable materials of 
the generation that has passed away serve as the 
foundation on which their progeny are continuing 

* " The whole bed of this extensive basin of water is absolutely 
a forest of submarine plants and corals. Here are sponges, madre- 
pores, corals, fungise, and other polyparia, with fuci, algse, and all 
the variety of marine vegetation, covering every part of the bottom 
and presenting the appearance of a submarne garden of the most 
exquisite verdure." — Mantell. 



THE MEANDRINjE. 



203 



to spread successive accuimilatinns of calcanoiis 
matter." 

'Vhe porites, or po7'itidie, belong to the same group, 




and are amoTijy the number of polypiers which often 
attain very large dimensions. Their substance is 
calcareous. Their surface is riddled with pores, or 
rather little shallow cups, in which the living polyps 



204 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



are found. Most frequently the polypier is set with 
polyps from its foot to its summit, although those at 




fij. 42. — Millepora Alcicoinis (one-fouith of the natural size). 



the base may no longer be living. Each of these 
little animals is marked by the characteristics which 
.we have notice 1 more than once. The number of 



THE FUNGIA. 205 

tentacles differs in the various species, and is often 
very considerable. 

When the polyps are removed from tlie stem, tlie 
little hollows with their imperfect divisions become 
visible all over the polypier. The latter assumes tlie 
most varied forms, according to the manner in which 
the polyps are reproduced. Sometimes they are most 
complex and elegant, as in the case of the Millejoora 
alcicornis (fig. 42). 

These animals differ from the astroides proper in 
the arrangement of their polypi, and from the coral- 
lines in the absence of the fleshy incrustation around 
the polypier. The polypier is wholly calcareous. Its 
development is owing to the hardening of the trans- 
verse divisions of the polypi and of their external 
covering. Their growth is irregular, and it leaves no 
trace of the animals themselves except the irregular 
pores. They are found in the seas of the North and 
of America. 

The variety of entirely calcareous polypiers is very 
numerous. One in particular we must not overlook — 
the fungia, so called from its resemblance to the ve- 
getable fungi. The animal of this species is gelatinous 
or membranous, somewhat oval in form, and much flat- 
tened. The engraving (fig. 43) represents a mouth in 
the centre of a large disc, the interior of which is made 
solid by a calcareous deposit, while the solid core is 



20G THE BOTTOM OF THE 8:.A. 

covered with plates or lamellae, radiating from the centre 
towards the circumference. Protruding from the disc 
are a great number of tentacuhe, which the animal 




Fig. 43. — Fungia Agariciformis. 

contracts or extends at will from between tbe sharp, 
thin plates of the polvpier. At the end of each ten- 
tacle a sucker is represented ; it is used by the animal 
to capture its prey. 



DESTRUCTION AND RENOVATION. 207 



13. (jrHiley-slaves of the Sea— The Giants and Pigmies of Creation 
— The Suckers — Legends of Monsters— Singing Fishes. 

The greatest activity prevails beneiith the surface 
of the sea. Were it possible to lift the veil, scenes 
the most varied and unexpected would meet our gaze. 
Creatures which inhabit the deep would be seen in- 
cessantly labouring to renew or adorn the earth. 
Some are engaged in the work of destruction, some in 
building up. The one class supplies the other with 
the materials which it fasliions into forms of beauty. 

Among those we have called destroy erS; the pholas, 
though it plays an obscure ^part, is very remarkable. 
It does not browse on the animal flowers of the 
polypier. It does not play the part of a tiger in 
the sea, and devour armies of fish. It sim[)ly eats 
its way into the hardest stones, as the xylophagi 
burrow in wood. Even the hardness of gneiss is 
not proof against its patient determination. 

At first sight we should be disposed to say that no 
weapon, no tool, aids this indefatigable labourer. 
The shell has two valves of the ordinary character, 
turning on a cartilaginous hinge. The body has two 
openings. Its substance is capable of being elongated 
so as to form a tube traversed by two channels — one 
of which serves for the absorption of water, the other 
to eject it as from a syringe. The soft rounded bo ly 



208 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

of the animal seems to be furnished with no organ 
by which even the softest substance could be pierced. 
It has two teeth, but they are so deeply seated that it 
is impossible they could ever operate upon the walls 
of the retreat which the creature bores out for 
itself. Our attention is directed to the anterior part 
of the shell, which appears to be set with hard points, 
so arranged on the surfaces extending from the hinge, 
forward, as to form a kind of file. At this end, a 
short foot or tongue is protiuded, by which the ani- 
mal holds on to the rock, while at the same time it 
partly turns itself, and thus by the friction of the 
serrated shell rasps away the chalk or rock. The 
work commences from the beoinning; of the creature's 
life. It first makes a slight hollow in the stone, in 
which it ensconces itself. In that position the water 
of the sea brings it sufficient food. Little by little, 
as the animal grows, it enlarges the shell in which it 
lives, and at the same time buries itself more deeply 
in the stone. Their advance is made almost horizon- 
tally at first ; but having reached a certain depth, 
they suddenly change their direction, and bore out 
their retreat perpendicularly. It is at once theit 
dwelling and their tomb, and in form resembles a 
common tobacco-pipe — the stalk debouching in the 
sea, and the bowl containing the animal. 

In the regions frequented by pholades, the rocks 



THE rHOLADEiS. 



200 



are thus pierced in every direction. We even see 
enormous stones bored quite tlirougli, from side to 
side, by those destroyervS. it was for a long time be- 




Fig. 44. — Gneiss bored by the Pholades Dactylus. 

lieved that they effected their lodgment while the 
rock was in a soft state, and that it afterwards grew 
hard around them, and enclosed them as in a living 
tomb, owing to the petrifying virtue of the water. 



2J0 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

This opinion was abandoned when it was observed 
that the columns of the ancient temple of Serapis, at 
Pozzuolis, VA liich had been submerged for many years 
in consequence of an earthquake, and again restored 
to the light of day, had been pierced all over by 
pholades. 

Shut up in a prison from which they can never 
make their esca},)e, these galley-slaves of the sea con- 
tinue their work of destruction to the end of their 
lives, and they have only themselves to blame for 
their perpetual seclusion from society. Without the 
least care for the morrow, they go on boring their 
way through the rock, enlarging themselves and their 
stony habitation as they advance farther from the sea. 
The open end of this singular gallery is the gate by 
which the sea washes in all that these animals need 
for their nourishment, and for which the pholas re- 
pays the ocean in a perpetual tribute of dust. Every 
wave carries something into the mine, and brings 
something away — another and very striking example 
of the universal work of sedimentation. 

Rocks too hard to be breached by the waves them- 
selves, are thus eaten away and scattered on the floor 
of the ocean by the pholades. For others are the 
transparent waters, the romantic ocean ravines, or 
the extended plains of sand and mud. The oyster 
the solen, and the razor-fish linger in agreeable situa- 



t'HOSFUUliESCEyCE OF THE EllOLAJ^. 211 

tiuns, and enjoy {ibundance of water privilege. The 
pholades, like other niolluscs, exist in numerous colo- 
nies, but all the members of tliis great family obey 
the word of com maud. Their mission is to go for 
ever forward, extending or enlarging their mine, and 
leaving oft' work only when they die. Thus employed, 
their whole lives would be passed in darkness, if 
nature liad not provided every one of these little 
miners with a lamp. The pholades are phospho- 
rescent. 

This fact was remarked by Pliny, but the cause of 
the phenomenon remained long unknown. Keaumur 
observed that if he washed his hands after touching a 
pholas, the water became phosjjhorescent ; and at the 
end of a certain time the phosphorescent matter fell 
to the bottom of the vessel. We now know that the 
phosphorescence is diie to a liquid continually secreted 
by the body of the animal. 

In contrast with these pioneers of the ocean, of these 
slaves who precede and assist him in the destruction 
of continents, there is a creature whose fate it is to 
float incessantly in the water, at the mercy of the 
most capricious winds and currents. We have already 
seen (in the chapter on the Colour of the Ocean) that 
the water holds in suspension a mass of microscopic 
beings. It is to tlie existence of these creatures that 
is due the yellowish milky, red. or olive-greeu tint 



212 THE BOTTOM OF THE SKA. 

SO frequently observed. Freyssinet and Turrel ob- 
served, near the shores of Luzon, an extent of some 
sixty millions of square yards coloured a bright 
scarlet. This tint was owing to the presence of an 
organisation so small that forty millions of indivi !uals 
occupied the space of a square millimetre.* As 
the discoloration extended to a considerable depth, 
it would be impossible to form even an approximate 
idea of the number of living beings which caused it. 

Some of these microscopic creatures never develope 
to anything beyond a little cell surrounded with vi- 
bratory cilise, unequally distributed over the surface, 
and serving the creature either as rowers or as an 
organ for continually renewing the water which sur- 
rounds it by creating a current. Their mode of 
reproduction is extremely simple, and, at the same 
time, admits of their propagation with almost frightful 
rapidity. About the middle of the creature the body 
contracts like the division between the two parts of 
an insect, and the contraction increases until it 
separates into two. Each part goes through the 
same process as its parent, continually dividing into 
new creatures, until in about twenty generations a 
single infusoria may have engendered more than a 
million. One generation succeeds another very 
quickly. If, then, a variety of causes did not conspire 

* A millimetre is -OSOSTths of an incli. 



GIANTS A\D PIGMIES. 213 

to check their increase, the infusorise would long 
since hav*) filled the world. 

When the body of the animal is soft without any 
calcareous addition, we find no traces at the bottom 
of the sea of their short existence. But many species 
are furnished with a sort of shell, the debris of 
which constitutes tlie greater part of the sand formed 
on the ocean-bottom. 

The foraminiferse contribute largely in conjunction 
with the infusorise to the levelling-up of the sub- 
marine valleys. Their microscopic remains — not 
very long known to be so, indeed — occur in such 
enormous masses that no part of the earth's crust is 
of greater interest to the geologist. 

If we compare with the whale, the shark, and other 
giants of the creation, the modest infusoria?, the fora- 
miniferse, and the Noctiluca miliaris, of which we find 
as many as 25,000 individuals in thirty cubic centi 
metres of water, we shall be disposed to attach very 
little, if any, importance to the infinitely little. The 
giant attracts our eyes by his mass and his force, 
while we often strive in vain to see the pigmies of 
creation, as we should look in vain for an atom of 
dust blown by the wind. The giant, however, will 
pass away, leaving but few traces of his existence. 
Here and there a bone or a tooth, perhaps a foot- 
print, informs us of the fact that a monster once 



214 THF BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

existed whose remains have long been the sport of 
the waves. The pigmies, feeble when taken singly, 
are powerful in their multitude. There are great 
animals in the ocean, but the armies of the infinitely 
little count by millions. The giants of the deep 
make their presence felt while they live ; the pigmies 
of creation are the true world-makers. 

The first specimens of infusorise were taken from 
the bottom of the sea by the apparatus of Brooke, 
when the submarine plateau upon which reposes the 
telegraphic cable between Newfoundland and Ireland 
was under investigation. The appearance presented 
to the eye was argillaceous, but the celebrated Pro- 
fessor Bailey, of AA'est Point, having studied the speci- 
mens with the aid of microscopes, recognised numerous 
calcareous shells in a state of perfect preservation. 

The average depth of th(; telegraphic plateau is 
something under 10,000 feet. That depth, though 
considerable, anr] exceeding the supposed thickness 
of the submar ine vital zone, is far from marking the 
limits of the empire of the foraminiferse. Where 
they cannot live, their spoil, so light, is carried by 
the ocean-currents, and deposited in obedience to the 
ordinary pliysical laws. Specimens obtained by 
soundings made between North America and Asia 
have demonstrated the presence of their calcai-eoug 
shells at depths exceeding 6000 yards. 



DEBRIS OF THE I.SFUSOHIJi!. 215 

If we reHect tluit the sand of tlie seas is often 
almost entirely composed of these little shells, so 
variously and elegantly formed ; if we rememl)er 
that they have been accumulated by the action ot 
marine currents in regions where their force is re- 
laxed, that their debris meets with conditions favour- 
able to their preservation in the calm deeps of ocean, 
who will not marvel at the enormous influence they 
exercise upon the distribution of the waters upon 
the surface of the globe ? Yet we may state, on the 
authority of M. Alcide d'Orbigny, that many of 
these creatures do not exceed one-half or one-sixth 
of a millimetre in dimensions. The same authority 
states that he has found 30,000 individuals in half 
an ounce of fine sand brought from the Antilles, or 
thirty millions in a kilogramme. Another learned 
naturalist, Plancus, has counted about 200,000 in 
a pound of sand I'rom the Adriatic. 

The creative power is more wonderfully manifested 
in these small beings than in the great. The com- 
plicated organs and the harmonious richness of the 
most powerful mechanical appliances impress us in 
the giants of creation. Our astonishment is greater 
still, perhaps, in face of the pigmies. The sea, in 
fact, is full of surprises. We imagine all that is 
mysterious beneath its waters. The furious tempests 
which disturb its surface and lash the air seem to 



216 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

assign a limit to the habitable world. " Tlie sea and 
all that therein is" appears surrounded with a poetic 
and miraculous aureole, wliich is the birth at once of 
fear and of superstition. 

Before our ancestors had dared to launch out upon 
the boundless ocean, the Mediterranean and its shores 
were the abode of the marvellous. As man extended 
the bounds of his empire, the region of wonder and 
superstition also gradually- enlarged itself. Old records 
show that the Spirit of the Storms demanded its 
victims of the first navigators who doubled the 
dreaded Cape of Good Hope; monsters the most 
hideous or grotesque were supposed to haunt the 
coasts of Norway ; and the bottomless Maelstrom 
had its genii like the rocks of Scylla and Cha- 
ry bdis. 

Popular tradition pointed to the existence of 
islands situated far away to the westward. The 
report went that, after the conquest of Spain by the 
Arabs, a certain number of Christians put to sea, and 
found refuge in the legendary islands, where they 
built seven cities. At the time of Columbus this sup- 
posed country bore the reputed name of Sette Citade, 
and was called by geographers Antilia, which name 
appears on the maps down to the end of the fifteenth 
century — together with that of another great island, 
situate in the latitude of Newfoundlanl, and called 



LEaJ'JXDAh'Y MARINE MONSTERS. 217 

the Isle of Satan. According to Arab traditions, a 
great hand rose every night from the sea, near the 
latter island, and, seizing the inhabitants, phinged 
them into a dark abyss. Myths of the highest anti- 
quity refer to the Athmtic Ocean as the abode of the 
blest and the kingdom of the dead, and traces of 
these legends are preserved even to the present day 
in Scotland and Ireland. 

On a certain occasion a tishing-boat, in the northern 
seas, was engaged in the fishing of bishop -fish and 
monk-fish. The kraken, a monster of many square 
leagues in size, rose from the bottom of the sea ; the 
vessel, receiving a shock as if it had struck on a rock, 
was sunk with all its crew and equipage. 

Another form of monster, dreaded by the fearful 
and superstitious, had immense suckers and arms; a 
huge mouth in the mi<]st ol' his tentaculse swallowed 
all that he could seize ; his arms were supposed to 
be hundreds of feet in length, and so powerful that 
they could enfold and crush ships of considerable 
size. The gigantic poulpe, or devil-fish, and the sea- 
serpent, have been the subjects of the most marvel- 
lous stories, which in our day have been reduced to 
their just value. These terrible monsters generally 
resolve into immense cordons, or vast fields of algae, 
interlaced one with another, and waving hither and 
thither at the men-y of every breath of wind which 



218 THE BOTTOM OF THE bEA. 

stirs the waves, or with the feeblest motion of the 
ocean-currents. 

The giant poulpe has yet to be discovered. We 
find, indeed, on rocky coasts, in the rugged fis- 
sures and caverns of the ocean, the well-known devil- 
fish, liideous enough truly, resembling a sack with 
serpent-like arms surrounding a horrible mouth. 
With these arms the poulpe seizes his prey in a far 
from agreeable embrace, and sucks him, as a spider 
does a fly, before swallowing him, so as to enjoy at 
his ease the juicy flesh of his struggling victim. 
These horrible creatures will sometimes attack man, 
though, generally speaking, they avoid him. In all 
the recordel instances, however, the danger and the 
horror have been exaggerated. An adventurer bold 
enough to thrust his arm. into one of these glutinous 
sacks may turn it inside-out like a glove, and, con- 
trary to what we have observed in the fresh-water 
hydra, the marine monster will not survive the opera- 
tion. In one other respect it is very inferior to the 
hydra of mythology, for its arms are very far from 
possessing the power of recoil after a wound ; if they 
are separated from the trunk, the collapse is instan- 
taneous. 

The calmars appear to reach much larger dimen- 
sions than the poulpes : they are sufliciently formid- 
able to be dreaded by the savages who traverse, in 



THE CALMAU.^TIIK RAY. 219 

their light cniioes, the waters which they frequent. 
These animals will seize with their arms a light boat 
and overthrow it if tlie tentaculae are not cut away 
with a hatchet. The French corvette Alecion 
encountered a gigantic calmar in the waters of 
Teneriffe. The animal was secured by means of a 
harpoon and a rope, but the head with its tentacles 
dropped into the sea while it wixs being drawn on 
board, owing to the rope cutting through the soft 
flesh of the creature. 

Marvels have been recorded even of the teeth, the 
skin, and the spines of certain species of fish. The 
hooked spines of the ray have almost invariably 
inspired terror. According to ^lian and Pliny, the 
wounds made by the sting of the ray are incurable. 
The former relates that a thief who was making off 
with one of these fish was wounded by its spines, 
and died immediately. In our day fishermen have 
no fear of it at all. The Japanese consider that the 
best possible remedy for the bite of serpents is to rub 
the place with the spine of this species of ray. 
Many of the Japanese carry it about with them for 
the purpose, but, strictly speaking, to possess this 
virtue it must have been cut from the living fish 
and applied fresh to the wound. 

The negroes believe that the sting a( the ray is 
venomous, but thev have no more reason for this 



220 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

idea than the Japanese have for their notion that 
it serves as an antidote to the bite of serpents. 

Side by side witli the legends, often of terrible 
import, to which the sea and its inhabitants have 
given birth, we meet with others of a ludicrous 
character. Such is the belief, which prevails in 
the North of Europe, that the Anatifera concha 
engenders the barnacle-goose. The barnacle, as all 
the world knows, attaches itself to rocks, the shells 
of oysters, and other testacea — to any solid body 
floating in the water, especially to the hulls of 
ships, and to submarine telegraphic cables. 

The protecting envelope of this animal is com- 
posed of five distinct parts. Through two opposite 
openings the antepi.ap or tentacles pass out; they 
are very supple, and covered with filaments; from 
another part protrudes the foot, which is analogous, 
in its external aspect, to the branch of a polypier. 
By this the creature fixes itself to solid bodies. In 
the midst of the tentacles is a kind of trunk, in 
which is a thin tongue, rolled into a spiral form, and 
of a deep colour. The trunk or trumpet-like 
process is transparent, and formed of a series of 
rings, diminishing in diameter from the base to the 
other extremity. The tentacles serve as a kind ol 
net for seizing prey. 

When the barnacle Is taken from the water, it 



TUE EARNACLE-GOOSE. 221 

quick] y dries up, and to such a degree that, after 
some days, it is very difficult to fiud among the 
shells the remains of the shrivelled animal. This 
has probably given rise to the belief in the marine 
origin of the wild duck. The canard rising from 
the water has broken its shell, and left nothing but 
its debris on the shore. Experience and reasoning 
are powei'less in face of this prejudice. If the rustics 
of the North cannot say they have seen the canard 
leave the shell, the only reason is, they would 
answer, that it is hatched during the night. 

Fabulous legends of this kind have hidden the 
true facts in a surrounding of incredible circum- 
stances, owing to the strong inclination for the 
marvellous which has characterised young nations 
and oriental races. The sea was, in olden times, 
peopled by sirens who played a great part in naviga- 
tion. Unlucky was it for the voyager who had too 
great a liking for art and beauty ! Charmed by the 
perfidious but sweet songs of the siren, he became 
the sport of fantastic illusions ; he saw imaginary 
coasts, and was wrecked on invisible rocks. The 
siren is a fabulous being. But harmonious sounds 
float over the ocean, though perhaps they are only 
those made by the sobbing of the waves, by the 
suash of the water against the ship's sides, or against 
the bulk of some great fish. 



222 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Without reflection, it might appear that no other 
sounds than such as these contribute to the oceanic 
concert. Fish do not seem to possess any vocal 
organ, and if their throats were better adapted for 
the emission of sound, it is doubtful if we could 
hear their songs. Let us remember that sound 
results from the vibration of some elastic, gaseous, 
liquid, or solid body — that sound travels more 
rapidly in water than in air. Considering that the 
celebrated physicist Cagniard-Latour has constructed 
a little apparatus, by the aid of which sounds are pro- 
duced at will, in the air or in the water, and which 
for that reason he calls the siren, we need not be 
astonished to learn that many fish emit sounds, and 
that in some instances these sounds assume the 
character of true singing. 

Without sneaking particularly of the coineoin, 
whose grunting ^cis oeen compared to the cry of a 
wild goose ; of the vieille, which utters a plaintive 
cry when it is seized ; or of the tunny, which wails 
like an infant when taken from the water — let lis 
listen for a moment to an account of a discovery not 
many years ago in America. The narrator, Mons. 
0. de Thoron, was walking one day on the shore of 
a bay situated to the north of the province of Es- 
meraldas, in South America. All at once, when the 
gun was setting, he heard with astonishment an 



SOUNDS HEARD AT SEA. 2,i3 

indefinable soun.l, very sonorous and long sustained. 
In that country, where the insect race is often very 
troublesome, he thought at first that the sound 
proceeded from insects of unusual dimensions. Failing 
to discover anything of the kind in the air, or on the 
sea, he questioned a man who was rowing by, and 
was informed that the sound proceeded from a fish, 
called by some the siren- by others the musician. 
M. de Thoron, desirous that no other sound sliould 
interrupt his enjoyment of this phenomenon, re- 
quested the boatman to rest on his oars. All around 
a multitude of sounds rose from the sea, forming the 
most singular concert it is possible to imagine ; the 
undertone of a church organ heard at a considerable 
distance might be said to resemble it. The concert 
commenced at sunset, and continued all through the 
night. The presence of auditors, ]M. de Thoron ob- 
serves, did not ceem in the least to intimidate this 
new species of choristers. 

They build, they feast, they make love, they steal ; 
they live in captivity, in freedom, or are enslaved in 
the ocean. As Fredol says, " There is joy in its waves, 
there is happiness on its shores, there is a pervading 
bliss throughout all !" Animal life displayed in the 
most opposed forms, the most grotesque organisa- 
tions, appears in greater beauty than on the withered 
earth. Tribes of living creatures rejoice incessantly 



224 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

in the most marvellous variations of light and shade, 
in the most fairylike illuminations, changing and 
reversing at every instant. They almost talk, they 
murmur their complaints, they sing, they get up 
concerts of which we can form but a feeble idea. 
What then is wanting to the completeness of life in 
the Ocean ? — Only Man. 

14. Algse — The untrodden Forests and Prairies of tlie Ocean — 
Animal Life more abundant than Vegetable Life — Sea Plants 
less widely distributed than Marine Animals — Influence of 
Light — Collection of Seaweed on the Coasts — Assistance 
afforded by the Tide. 

Marine vegetable life is very far from equalling in 
richness the animal life of the Ocean. The marine 
llora is limited almost entirely to one class of plants — 
namely, the algae tribe. These plants assume the 
most strange and grotesque forms imaginable. The 
number of species seems almost unlimited. The 
learned Linnaeus counted only fifty, but at the 
present time at least 2000 are known. 

As we have remarked in an earlier chapter, the 
marine flora is developed to the greatest extent in 
the temperate zones. Its extent and variety may 
be appreciated from the fact, that in English waters, 
105 genera and 370 species of algae may be counted. 
The richness and variety of this class of plants 
diminish gradually as we recede from the temperate 



EXTENSION OF LIFE IN THE OCEAN. 225 

zones towards the equator or the poles. '' It is, more- 
over, remarkable tliat the hxw under which the 
animal kingdom, which more readily adapts itself to 
surrounding circumstances, becomes more extensively 
developed than the vegetable kingdom, applies to 
the ocean as well as to the land. Thus the polar 
seas abound in whales, seals, fish, and aquatic birds, 
and are populated by an infinite multitude of inferior 
animals, when all vegetation has disappeared from 
this region of ice and cold. This law is also found 
to apply as we descend deeper into the ocean, for in 
so doing we discover that vegetable life disappears 
much sooner than animal life: indeed, in abysses 
where hardly a ray of light can penetrate, soundings 
still demonstrate the presence of living infusoriae." 

We know what life does, although we know not 
what she is. There is no region of natural phe- 
nomena to which this remark applies more forcibly 
than to the ocean. We there see animals blooming, 
80 to speak, in the most brilliant and varied colours, 
like flovy'ers, and flowers almost without colour. 

On the other hand, the animals lose their power of 
motion, and become more allied to the algae them- 
selves. Modern investigations show that, during the 
first part of their existence, vegetable cells have the 
motions characteristic of animal life, so that the 
algae might almost be considered as varieties of 

Q 



226 THE- BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

polypier, linking together the two kingdoms ol 
nature. But the algae do not petrify like the poljrp, 
to whose labours we owe the existence of the coral 
reefs of the Pacific ; they remain soft and flexible, at 
the same time establishing immense colonies of their 
kind. 

What striking objects, what prodigies, do we iind 
in each step of our submarine investigations ! Is it 
matter of astonishment that in the presence of these 
marvels man's mind should have invented that 
fairy mythology, the memory of which has been 
partly perpetuated by the legends of the middle 
ages? 

Marine plants are sometimes microscopical. Their 
floating millions sometimes colour the sea; among 
others, the Red Sea owes its name to such circum- 
sta ces. At certain seasons of the year, this sea 
swarms with filamentous confervas of a beautiful 
purple colour. The beautiful tint which has from a 
remote period given thissea the name of Eryth rasan, 
is due to the infinite numbers of the marine con- 
fervse. In other cases marine plants attain gigantic 
dimensions. The Wellingtonia gigantea is no dwarf 
in size, but what comparison can there be between it 
and the Vareo 'porte-]poire of Terra del Fuego, which 
grows to a height of 1 000 feet ! 

IMarine plants have no need of earth. They grow 



TliEEiS WITHOUT HOOTS. 227 

anywhere., as their nourishment is not obtained from 
tJie soil, but from the sea itself. For the same 
reason they have no root ; indeed, the species which 
float have not even the semblance of roots, while 
those which remain stationary are attached by a 
species of sucker more or less lobed or divided. The 
earth goes for nothing in their development, because 
their origin is always exterior. Their whole growth 
is in the water, which supplies all they need, and to 
which all ultimately return. Land vegetation would 
not find sufficient subsistence in the atmosphere ; it 
requires a soil, and trunk, and branches. The alga 
is supporteil by the water on which it feeds ; it is held 
down by the rock or earth to which it is attached ; if 
it becomes detached, instead of falling like a tree, it 
rises and floats on the surface of the water. 

As terrestrial plants yield a resting-place for the 
eggs of birds and insects, so do seaweeds for marine 
animals; but, instead of supporting them, it prevents 
them from rising to the surface, and also shelters 
them from the voracity of the monsters of the deep. 

As the insect tribes establish their republics in the 
trees of our forests, so the sponges attach themselves 
to tiie light algae, and the polypi take them for their 
iVagile base. Even the sea-worm, like the terrestrial 
serpent, winds its encircling length around the stems, 
the better to seize its prey. 



228 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

How strange a tree would look which, torn up by the 
tempest, should rise through the atmosphere and float 
above the clouds ! Such phenomena occur continually 
in the ocean. The marine currents detach plants of 
all kinds from the bottom of the ocean. They collect 
in parts of the ocean where the currents are weaker. 
There they form immense floating islands, which 
sometimes hinder tlie progress of ships. 

Light is as necessary for marine plants as for 
terrestrial ones, and this prevents them from living 
at a great depth ; still they grow niany hundred feet 
below the surface, where light penetrates but feebly. 
Shells are distinctly visible in certain parts of the 
Arctic Ocean at a depth of 460 feet ; at a depth of 
940 feet the light is still of sufiicient intensity to 
permit the obj; cts to be seen dimly. The bottom 
of tlie sea is equally visible at the same depth in 
the Antilles, but the objects are not distinct. Abso- 
lute darkness prevails at a depth of 1000 feet. The 
rays of the moon penetrate only to a depth of about 
40 feet. 

It is, therefore, within a limit of 1000 feet in deptli, 
or about one-tenth of the average depth of the seas, 
that marine plants vegetate, forming a belt around 
our continents and islands, or crowning the summits 
of submerged mountains. 

Has light any influence on the colour of vegetation 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE ALGJE. 229 

in the sea ? jModern botanists have proved, experi- 
mentally, that plants are very sensible to the action 
of light, and it has been fonnd that marine plants 
are of different colours, according to the depth at 
which they grow. 

They have been divided, according to their pre- 
vailing tint, into three main sections : the brown or 
black (melanospermea), the green (chlorospermea), and 
the red (rhodosj)ermea). The green live only near 
the surface ; they often float, and are found in large 
quantities in the grassy seas. The red are found at 
small depths on rocks near the coasts. The brown, 
which are much more numerous, grow at greater 
depths. They constitute the greater part of the 
submarine forests. 

Although the algae occupy, relatively, but a small 
portion of the earth's surface, being distributed in 
what may be called oceanic belts, their number is 
immense. Wherever the physical conditions are 
favourable to their development, they fill the sea 
with their impenetrable masses. This abundant 
vegetation is utilised by man, whom the sea itself 
aids in collecting them. Wind-storms sometimes 
produce terrible effects, but oceanic storms far 
exceed them in destructive force. If the first over- 
throw enormous trees or immense edifices, the latter 
easily tear whole forests of marine plants fiom their 



2 BO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

feeble hold of the soil or rocKs. This madness of 
the ocean is man's gain. On tlie various coasts, and 
especially in the bays of the ocean, he collects the 
seaweed which is thrown ashore by each tempest, 
and even by every tide, in quantities which may be 
called incalculable, and yet the supply seems never 
to diminish. There are bays in which 30,000 people 
are sometimes occupied in gathering this spoil. 

Seaweed makes very bad fuel, but it is occasionally 
used for firing. Its most important use is as manure, 
or as the raw material of soda, which is extracted 
from its ashes. A still more curious application of 
it is made by the Dutch, who use seaweed in con- 
structing the dams which preserve their lands from 
the inroads of the sea: tlius the ocean itself fur- 
nishes the materials which are to be opposed to it 
as an obstacle. Alas! we know too well that the 
courageous efforts of the inhabitants of the country 
must at last fail, and that the sea will again assert 
its dominion over the earth and the ephemeral works 
of man ! 



MAN AND HIS WORK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SE.S. 



I. The Empire of the Seas denied to Man — Numerous attempts at 
Submarine Exploration — Disturbance of present social conditions 
which would ensue from the possibility of travelling beneath the 
Surface of the Water — The Sea the best tie between Nations. 

Air is necessary to the life of man ; his organisa- 
tion forbids a too protracted stay beneath the surlace 
of the water. If he dives he is soon compelled to 
return to the surface. He is, therefore, unable to 
acquire any extensive acquaintance with the sub- 
merged part of the earth, for no sooner does the 
depth exceed a few feet than some special apparatus 
becomes requisite. The explorations which have 
been made, however, besides their theoretical im- 
portance, have resulted in great commercial gain. 

What enormous wealth has been engulfed in the 
sea since man first dared its dangers, and entrusted 
his treasures to its fatal grasp 1 Each year a further 
tribute is levied by the moving torrent of waters, 
which yields up, here andthere,an insignificant portion 
of its spoil, but jealously guards the more precious 



232 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

treasures in its secret bosom. How could the faintest 
hope exist that the mighty ships laden with rich 
merchandise, which have sunk beneath the surface, 
could ever again be recovered ? What man so daring 
as to attempt their extraction, piece by piece, from 
the ocean which hides them with such jealous care ? 

Every such enterprise wa3 for long considered 
merely chimerical. Even now, any attempt of the 
kind is, in most cases, impracticable ; and in those 
rare instances where some hope of success may fairly 
be indulged, it is only by great sacrifices, and by the 
exercise of much ingeni* Ity, that our expectations are 
adequately realised. 

In presence of the vastness of the sea, man is in- 
voluntarily impressed with mingled respect and 
terror. He may sail about on its surface boldly 
enough, but he penetrates its depths with hesitation. 
In his pursuit of a marine monster, he liarasses it so 
long as it imprudently remains near the surface of 
its vast empire. No sooner, however, does the 
monster feel the power of his enemy, and the danger 
of remaining within his reach, than he sinks, though 
only a few yards, down into the abyss of waters, and 
man's power of pursuit immediately ceases. 

If nature had gone so far as to endow man with a 
large reservoir, where, like the whale and other sea- 
monsters, lie could store up a sufficient volume of 



AUDACITY OF EXPLORERS. 2:53 

air, and carry it with him to the farthermost depths 
of the ocean, what service could he extract from so 
marvellous a provision, if his eyes, constructed so as 
to give him the power of vision in a limpid and 
dazzlingly luminous atmosphere, made him conscious 
only of darkness, and left him a defenceless prey to 
the voracity of the monsters of the deep ? 

But man is ambitious to assert his sovereign right 
over the whole globe ; universal nature is his inheri- 
tance, and he studies her every phase and all her 
changing humours with patience. In his thirst for 
knowledge he fearlessly grapples with, and seldom 
fails to overcome, wliatever obstacle may be thrown 
in liis path. With a sublime audacity he would 
penetrate and master, in every direction, an empire 
the limits of which appear to him to be too narrow. 
He is not satisfied to run with lightning-speed over 
the surface of the earth ; he would also cleave the 
air like a bird, and dispute their darkest and dreariest 
retreats with the inhabitants of the seas. As if 
conscious of her irresistible attractions, the Ocean 
allows him occasional glimpses of her treasured 
charms, and, at the same time, one might almost 
say that she defies him to deprive her of any portion 
of them. Corals, sponges, and pearls have to be 
snatched from her depths. The magnificent purple 
of the ancients — sepia, mother-of-pearl, ambergris — 



234 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

are but a few of the valuable substances which are 
well known to be of oceanic origin. 

Ambition and the love of gold are an almost uni- 
versal motive power. Poverty and fear often supply 
their place. The first attempts at circumnavigation 
were made by daring sailors imbued with a desire to 
make a rapid fortune. Sponges and pearls were long 
procured exclusively by the labour of slaves. In 
many parts of the world the old fashion is still fol- 
lowed, insofar that diving is the only means employed 
to obtain those treasures of the deep. The process is 
of the most primitive kind. On reaching the scene 
of his labours, the adventurous diver detaches the 
sponge from the rocks to which it is fastened ; nets 
are suspended from boats and sunk within reach of 
the workmen, who fill them with their spoil, and, 
on a signal being given, the well-laden nets are drawn 
up by a cord. 

Edible oysters inhabit the European and Indian 
seas ; they are very abundant on the French and 
English coasts. Oyster-fishing is carried on by means 
of a net furnished with a scraper, which is dragged 
over the rocks to which the oysters are fixed. The 
oysters detached from the bottom are accumulate 1 in 
the net. together with any other animals which ac- 
company them. 

A.S Goldsmith relates, the unfortunates condemned 



DIVERS AND THEIR PERILS. 235 

to the painful and laborious occupation to which 
we have referred on the coasts of Persia, are either 
the negroes or the poorest of the inhabitants. Divers 
not only rim the risk of drowning, and of being de- 
voured by sharks, but they are also in danger of 
being suffocated in consequence of having to hold 
their breath for a protracted time ; and if no worse 
effects ensue, this condition often results in blood- 
spitting, llie most robust and healthy young men 
are chosen for this trafle, but they can seldom con- 
tinue in it for more than five or six years. Their 
fibres stiffen, the pupils of their eyes become red, 
and they often die of consumption. . . . They deposit 
the pearls, or rather the oysters which contain them, 
in boats 28 feet long, of which there are often 300 
or 400 at sea at one time. Each of these boats has 
seven or eight stones, which serve it as anchors, and 
on board are from five to eight men, who dive by 
turns. They are all naked, but have a net sus- 
pended from their necks, into which they throw the 
oysters; their hands are gloved, to preserve them 
from the wounds which they might otherwise get in 
detaching the shells from the rocks. They descend 
with the help of a cord, to which is attached a weight 
of about 50 pounds. They place their feet in a kind 
of stirrup ; with the left hand they hold the cord, 
and with the right they close the nostrils, to prevent 



236 TUK BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

the exit of the air, of which they have taken a deep 
breath previous to their descent. Having reached 
the bottom, they commence operations by giving the 
signal to those who remain in the boat that they 
may raise the stone, after which they set to work 
collecting the shells, with which they fill their nets 
as speedily as possible ; they then make another 
signal, upon which the net is raised, and immediately 
afterwards they themselves rise to breathe. All the 
shells are carried to the shore, where they are piled 
in heaps until the fisliing-season, which lasts during 
November and December, is at an end. 

The holothuria, or trejpang, much sought after in 
Asia, is gathered by divers, or harpooned on the 
bodies to which it attaches itself. The harpoon is 
fixed to the extremity of a series of long bamboos 
fitting one within another. Leaning over the bow of 
his boat, the fisher gazes into the depths of the sea ; 
the most perfect calm is indispensable, and it is as- 
serted that in such case he can see, at a depth of 
100 feet, the animal attached to the rocks or coral 
banks ; the harpoon descends as gentlj" as possible 
until it reaches the animal, when it strikes it sud- 
denly, and rarely in vain. 

In the greatest number of instances the diver de- 
scends as far as his sight will permit him, but this 
y to a slight depth only Modern apparatus facilitates 



iiii 







lllllillillilllll|lllllll|IIIIIIIIIIIIIM|l|l 



lllliM^ 



SUBMARINE VESSELS. 239 

Ids expeditions, but it has not much extended tneir 
radius. In fact, the pressure supported by toe in- 
trepid explorer augments by one atmosphere when 
he has reached a depth of 32 feet ; it soon becomes 
so great as to involve conditions in which it would be 
impossible to live. Asphyxia, ravenous monsters, and 
darkness, are not therefore the 'only obstacles which 
man has to encounter in his submarine explorations. 
He cannot descend into the immense oceanic valleys 
as he faces the cold and rarefaction of tlie air on the 
high mountains of the terrestrial surface. Beyond 
the region of the monsters he must enter the realms 
of darkness, and, should he go further still, encounter 
sure destruction. 

Who can form an idea of the immense changes 
which would result if men were able to travel freely 
under the surface of the waters? Where would 
be the natural frontiers which politicians so much 
desiderate ? Man darting through the air like a bird ; 
locomotives competing with the eagle in point of 
speed, and losing themselves in the midst of the 
clouds; powerful machines plunging beneath the 
oceanic tempests, and scattering in terriHed hosts 
the multitudinous inhabitants of the sea! Who 
would dare to entertain for one moment dreams or 
aspirations of so chimerical a nature ? (J-reat mindb 
have nevertheless devoted their labours and thoughts 



240 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

to .«inch obiects, and we shall presently see bow tbey 
tiave partially resolved the question in respect to the 
Ocean. Sailors of a new order may now be shipped 
ior submarine expeditions ; the adventurer can 
already carry with him a provision of air, light, and 
food ; lie can sink or rise at will, or maintain himself 
at any particular depth, like a spirit of the deep ; he 
can suddenly make his presence felt in the midst of a 
fleet, or on a hostile coast, before the astounded enemy 
has time to prepare for defence ; he can discharge his 
powerful batteries and engulf himself in his adopted 
element, like a true marine monster, while they seek 
in vain for the cause of the disaster with which they 
are suddenly smitten. 

If a few steps have been made towards the realisa- 
tion of such marvels, how many more still remain 
to be accomplished ! It will perhaps never be man's 
lot to tread the hitherto unfathomable abysses of the 
sea ; the hum of civilisation will never disturb the 
profound peace which the monsters of the deep are 
themselves bound to respect. At any rate, there must 
be patient waiting through a long series of ages for 
this result, and we must leave to our descendants the 
care of adding another chapter to the history of the 
6df th. They may perhaps see cultivated lands, forests, 
and mountains, where the present level of the sea per- 
mits only a wild waste of waters ; or perhaps they may, 



THF ;SEA AXD ITS SPOILS. 241 

in digging their roads, canals, and tnnnels, study the 
deposits now in conrse of actual forniation, whilst coral 
reefs, sponges, and oyst<'r-bauks will cover the edifices 
of which we are now so proud. 

Without descending to any great depth, we may 
see even near the surface and the coast, in the midst 
of reefs which seem to permit man to penetrate the 
oceanic waste but to forbid his return, submarine life 
conspire with the waters to bury out of sight the 
evidences of the destruction they have wrought 
The nations would be rich if the sea did not levy a 
heavy tribute upon them. But the sea only corrodes 
and wastes the spoil it seizes ; the abundance of 
oceanic life engulfs it a second time. Molluscs, bar- 
nacles, and seaweed very readily attach themselves 
to bodies plunged into the sea. Ships which make 
long voyages sometimes become loaded with so enor- 
mous a cargo of shells and barnacles, that they re- 
semble floating aquarii, and lose much of their speed. 
The work of the sea is incessant. Every hour, every 
minute, adds to the thickness of the covering with 
which she conceals her thefts ; and so long as the 
methods of search remain as imperfect as they are at 
present, we must be content if we recover oocasion- 
ally such fragments only as this fascinating monster 
is willing to render up. 

■ We are prevented by a variety of causes *roni 

1 



242 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

exploring by far tlie larger portion of the earth's crust- 
Nature has been jealously careful to remove it from 
our sight, to preserve it from our unappeasable curi- 
osity. Should we not congratulate ourselves on this 
fact ? And does not this water, which hides so many 
marvels, serve now, and has it not always served, to 
human need, as one of our most powerful auxiliaries ? 
It is water which most facilitates the relations that 
are established between the inhabitants of different 
countries, which invites to exchanges and transactions 
of all kinds, and is in fact the soul of commerce, of 
which civilisation is the offspring. 

Though flourishing on the coasts, civilisation pe- 
netrates but slowly into the interior of continents. 
By the sea it is speedily transmitted from shore to 
shore of neighbouring islands, and so on to the re- 
motest. On the continent it spreads slowly, step 
by step, and its progress is almost invariably paral- 
lel with the cdurse of rivers and streams. Ee- 
move the water, and civilisation would disappear; 
the desert would again reign supreme ; one waste of 
sand would cover everything with a moveable shroud, 
like the waves of the sea, but even more terrible. 
Hrv many have paid with their lives for the 
avJacity which impelled them to penetrate the 
secrets of the desert ! 

To all who have the courage to confide in her. the 



DIVING APPARATUS. 243 

sea provides a means of transport at once agreeable 
and convenient. The sea supports tlie load, tli(^ 
wind propels it, and man directs it on its journey. 
From this easy means of transport results a great 
commercial movement, a circulation of ideas ap well 
as products, which enlarges the field of inrlusiriai 
genius, encourages useful inventions, promotes that 
affability and those humane feelings which spring 
from much intercourse, and, in a word, developes 
relations between one people and another which 
could not otherwise be established. Further, the 
discoveries of sailors, the voyages to distant countries, 
to very different climates with varied productions, 
the rapidity of exchange, and the wellbeing which 
results, are the first step towards that universal 
union which is the end and aim of all civilisation 
properly imderstood. 



2. Exploration of the Bottom of the Sea — Diving Apparatus — In- 
vention of MM. Eouquayrol and Denayrouze — Submarine 
Electric Illumination — Salvage of objects sunk in the Sea — A 
Chest of Gold recovered under peculiar circumstances in thr 
Fort of Marseilles. 

The exploration of the bottom of the sea made but 
little progress in ancient times, or in the middle 
ages. During many centuries the few attempts of 
which we hear are ratber of a legendary thnn 



244 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEJ. 

authentic character. We can scarcely be astonished 
at this when we picture to ourselves the profound 
ignorance which prevailed relative to the properties 
of gases. Aristotle, for example, wishing to demon- 
strate the weight of atmospheric air, weighed an 
empty bladder, and the same bladder again when 
filled with air, and found no difference between the 
two results. Hardly three centuries ago, the fact of 
water rising in the tube of a pump was explained by 
the supposition that Nature abhors a vacuum. 

It is hardly a century since the celebrated astro- 
nomer Halley, commencing the experiments in sub- 
marine exploration which have been continued to 
our time, descended to a deptli of 50 feet in a 
diving-bell which he had constructed. English 
engineers utilised this invention until the year 1830, 
in building the immense submarine structures with 
which they have covered the English coasts. At 
this time another apparatus, more convenient and 
at the same time less costly, gradually replaced the 
diving-bell. 

The object of the diving apparatus, to which we 
are now referring, is to give to each individual work- 
man the utmost possible liberty of movement. An 
impervious habit, made of cloth and metal, allows 
him a certain liberty of motion, which he cannot 
possibly have when enclosed in a bell. A pipe com- 



RECENT INVENTIONS. 



245 



niuiiicating with the interior of his clothing supplies 
him with the air necessary to respiration. This 
air is supplied by a lift and force-pump, placed on 
the bank or in a boat. This apparatus is of French 
origin. 

Attempts of a different kind were made, at the end 




Fig. 46. — Divers dressed in the Apparatus inveuted by MM. Rouquayrol 
and Denayrouze. 

of the last century, by an inhabitant of Breslau. A. 
diver descended into the water carrying his supply 
of air in a reservoir, into which large quantities of 



246 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

this gas had been compressed. The man cg,rried this 
reservoir on his back, and it communicated with his 
mouth by a tube. 

Mhurr also made attempts to improve the appa- 
ratus in France, but without superseding the original 
invention. In England some form of the apparatus 
was constantly used, and, in 1830, the discovery of 
caoutchouc gave a great impulse to this industry, 
and improvements became more feasible, at the same 
time that they were more necessary than ever. This 
was the state of affairs when two Frenchmen — M. 
Eouquayrol, a mining engineer, and M. Denayrouze, 
a naval lieutenant — solved this difficult problem. 
Their apparatus suffices for all the exigencies of sub- 
aqueous work. Whether the man be naked, or covered 
with impervious clothing, his respiration depends 
entirely on the exercise of his own will, aiiu on the 
power of his lungs. 

This result is obtained by means of an artificial 
lung or supply-regulator, which consists of a reservoir 
made of steel or iron, capable of resisting very great 
pressure, and surmounted by a chamber so constructed 
as to regulate the afflux of air. The diver carries 
this apparatus on his back. A respiratory tube issues 
from this chamber, and is terminated by a mouth- 
piece composed of a piece of sheet-caoutchouc, which 
is held between the lips anf'i the teeth of the diver. 



AN ARTIFICIAL LUNG. 247 

This pipe is furnished with a valve, whicli permits 
the expulsion of air, but opposes the entrance of 
water. The steel reservoir is separated from the 
air-chamber by a conical valve opening from the 
air-chamber towards the reservoir in such a manner, 
as to open only by the influence of an exterior 
pressure — the pressure of the air in the reservoir 
tendins: to close it. 

It is obvious that the use of this apparatus renders 
the regular working of the air-pump unnecessary. 
The air which it transmits to the diver is stored up 
in the steel reservoir. From this store the diver 
can supply his needs without fatigue in the following 
manner. 

The air-chamber is closed by a moveable lid, to 
which is attached the tail of the conical valve. The 
diameter of the lid is somewhat less than the interior 
diameter of the chamber, and it is covered with caout- 
chouc to render it airtight. It yields to both 
interior and exterior pressure — the former causing 
it to rise, the latter to fall. 

When exterior pressure is exerted on this lid, 
the valve is immediately affected through the in- 
termediary tail or rod ; communication between the 
reservoir and the air-chamber is opened, and 
a portion of the compressed air flows into the 
chamber. Should the latter contain an excess of 



248 THE BOTTOM OF Till': SklA. 

air, the pressure of it against the moveable lid keeps 
the valve closed. 

The entire apparatus, when under water, works as 
follows. By drawing in his breath, the workman re- 
moves a certain part of the air from the chamber ; 
exterior pressure is then immediately exerted on the 
moveable lid, vvhich falls, and through the intermediate 
rod causes the valve to open. Air issues from the 
reservoir, and re-establishes the equilibrium between 
the interior of the air-chamber and the surrounding 
medium ; the lid rises, and the conical valve, returning 
to its former position, again intercepts the communi- 
cation between the reservoir and the air-chamber, 
until another aspiration brings about a repetition of 
these phenomena. When the workman respires, the 
valve, which we have already mentioned as existing 
in the respiratory tube, permits the air expelled from 
the lungs to escape into the water. 

This apparatus works automatically ; whatever be 
the irregularity in the working of the air-pump, its 
action is as regular as that of the steam-engine. The 
workman receives exactly the quantity of air necessary 
for respiration ; this air reaches him at a pressure equi- 
valent to that to which the rest of his body is submitted, 
and he is able to breathe without attention or effort, 

MM. Eouquayrol and Denayrouze, not content with 
having enabled the workman to breathe independently 



SUPPLY OF AIR 249 

of the action of the pump, have considerably improved 
the latter apparatus by constructing pumps in such a 
manner that the leakage decreases, until, as the pres- 
sure increases, it can scarcely be appreciated. 

It is well known that air becomes hot simply by 
being strongly compressed. The supply of air in the 
heated state is injurious to the divers. The pumps 
of which we speak, and in which the air traverses two 
layers of- water before entering the steel reservoir, 
remedy this inconvenience. Moreover, the air, in 
passing from the steel reservoir into the air-chamber, 
from whence the workman is supplied, expands again 
and becomes still cooler. Another important advan- 
tage connected with this apparatus is that the expired 
air rises in bubbles to the surface. So long as the 
diver breathes regularly, the intervals which separate 
the appearance of the bubbles are sensibly equal. If 
they come more rapidly or more slowly than usual, it 
IS a sign that something abnormal is going on. If 
they cease altogether, the diver must have ceased 
breathing, and should be hauled up immediately. 

In the old diving-dress the air filled the space be- 
twixt the body of the diver and his impervious 
clothing, the expired air escaping by a little valve 
fitted into the helmet. But the excess of air trans- 
mitted by the pump also escaped by this valve. Ir- 
regularity in working the pump would therefore 



250 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

cause irregularity in the escape of the bubbles, and 
if the pumpers continued their work they might, quite 
unconsciously, for a long time continue to send air to 
a corpse. With the new apparatus, however, the 
escaping air affords constant evidence of the health 
of the diver. The moment he requires help, his at- 
tendants are on the qui vive, while in the former case 
they could know nothing of his condition. This ad- 
vantage in the new apparatus can hardly fail to en- 
courage the most timirl. 

Further, he who wears the old apparatus exposes 
his life much more than he who uses the apparatus of 
Rouqiiayrol and. Denayrouze. His life, or at least 
the security and duration of his labours, depend en- 
tirely on the strength and. substance of his clothing. 
In the new system the caoutchouc dress serves only 
to protect the diver from the cold. It requires, 
therefore, much less solidity than the other, and thus 
leaves the diver greater freedom of motion. 

MM. Eouquayrol and Denayrouze have done 
everything to bring their incontestably useful ap- 
paratus within the reach of all. Experienced and 
intelligent divers are no longer requisite — neither is 
it necessary to employ workmen accustomed by long 
practice to work the pump in a uniform manner. We 
have already seen how the diver is enabled to obtain 
a regular supply of air in spite of any irregularities 



PRECAUTIONS NECEHSARY. 251 

in working the pump. The substitution of a simple 
mask, in place of the helmet hitherto in use, allows 
the dress to be closed hermetically with much greater 
facility, a single bolt effecting this completely. 

There are, nevertheless, several precautions neces- 
sary. If these are not observed, the miners run risks 
which are, to say the least, disagreeable. The pres- 
sure to be supported increases by one atmosphere 
for every 32 feet of the depth. The workman's body 
is therefore under a pressure of about four atmospheres 
when at a depth of 100 feet, whilst at the surface 
he would be under the pressure of one only. A rapid 
transference from one pressure to another so different 
cannot be effected with impunity. But the body will 
gradually become accustomed to these new physio- 
logical ronditions, if the man begin by descending a 
few feet, and increasing the depth day by day. Even 
with this preliminary training, each descent should 
be made very slowly. The return should be even 
more slow ; and to avoid all inconvenience, it would be 
well to allow about one minute for every six or seven 
feet of rise. If these simple recommendations are not 
followed, much suffering may be caused — such as 
singing in the ears, and headache. The workman 
must be trained gradually, as is the case in all bodily 
exercises. 

The liofht is verv feeble beneath the water, and 



252 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

darkness increases with the depth, soon becoming 
such that the workman has to grope his way about- 
more especially where the bottom is muddy, and in 
parts where it is impossible to see beyond a depth of 
t\\ elye or fifteen feet. To remedy this serious incon- 
venience, attempts have been made to use an oil or 
spirit-lamp, and even a simple lantern lighted with a 
candle. A pipe, communicating with a pump, is 
needed to convey the air necessary for combustion ; 
another, rising to the surface, permits the escape of 
the pro 1 nets of combustion. Witliout referring to 
the inconvenience which was generally felt in working 
these lamps and their two pipes, the light was always 
found insufficient. The dense air transmitted by 
the pumps gave rise to the singular phenomena to 
be observed in compressed air-tubes ; the wicks car- 
bonised, the light was pale, and lasted hardly a 
quarter of an hour. These difficulties have been 
overcome by employing the electric light. A per- 
fectly watertight lamp of iron or brass encloses the 
regulator of an electric light on Serrin's systein. The 
wires which conduct the current enter the lamp by 
traversing a non-conducting plug of tow. The current 
is derived from a pile of fifty elements, and a dazzling 
lioht, equivalent to two thousand of Carcel's jets, is 
obtained. The sides of the lamp resist the pressure 
exerted bv the water, and the gases, becoming dilated 



SUBMARINE LIGHT. 2r>\i 

by tlie heat, escape by means of a little valve analo- 
gous to that used in the artificial lung-. 

The regularity of the light thus obtained depends 
only on the regulator itself, and not at all on the 
depth ; it will maintain its energy for about three 
hours, and then it is only necessary (o change the 
carbon-points. 




Fig. 47. — Divers finding a Box of Gold in the Poi t of I\Ini>eilles. 

Divers are very geneially employed to recover 
tilings which have fallen into the sea. How many 
valuable objects have been rescued from the oceau 



254 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

\yj' this means, in spite of the mud or sand which had 
ah-eady commenced to cover them up ! The diver, 
with the equipments we have described, makes his 
investigations in perfect safety and ease ; he can see 
quite as well as in full daylight ; he examines every 
cranny ; he overturns the soil stone by stone ; he 
maps out his field of operations, and thus saves him- 
self from a useless repetition of his search. His 
patient investigations are rarely without some valu- 
able result. In the excellent description of the 
Eouquayrol-Denayrouze apparatus, we find the fol- 
lowing remarkable example of a salvage effected by 
the help of this apparatus : — 

" The packet-boats Ganges and rimperatriee came 
into collision in the outer port of Marseilles. The 
Imperatrice had one of her wheels broken, and the 
officers' quarters damaged. One of the cabins con- 
tained a chest full of gold, which fell into the thick 
mud which forms the bottom of the port of Marseilles. 
It was important that this precious package should 
be recovered the next day. The sea was rough, and 
the exact spot where the accident occurred, unknown. 
The box was not strong, its colour was black. At the 
supposed spot a plumb of 60 kilogrammes was sunk. 
This plumb carried two cords divided into meters ; 
two divers dragged them in separate directions, and, 
taking each the knot coiTesponding to one meter, 



ymrS RAISED AT SEBASTOrOL. 255 

they described consecutive circles, examining the 
ground at each step. After seeking three liours, tlie 
gold was found and restored to its owner, who had 
watched the operations with intense anxiety. Tliis 
fsalviige was effected on February 19, 1867, by 
M. Barbotin, contractor for submarine work at Mar- 
feeilles." 

3. Gowans Salvage of Russian Vessels in Seliastopol IJaibour. 

An American engineer, named Go wan, lias recently 
effected a much more important salvage, by ex- 
plorations of the bottom of the sea of grea^ter mag- 
nitude than had ever been attempted before. Prince 
IMentschikoff, closely besieged in Sebastopol by the 
Anglo-French army, perceiving that the weak point 
of the fortified town was its roadstead, and that the 
enemy's fleet was about to force an entrance, sank a 
line of ships and frigates in the passage between 
Forts Catherine and Alexander. A second line of 
vessels was sunk to fill the gaps create 1 in this sub- 
marine barrier by the autumn storms. At last, when 
the hour for the Russian retreat had arrived, he dis 
appointed his conquerors by sinking all that remained 
of the fleet, with the exception of a few solitary barks, 
in the bay, the muddy bottom of which was now the 
bed of at least 100 vessels, representing in value 
some fourteen millions sterling. 



256 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

The vessels thus sunk had been treated in sach 
a manner as to resist as much as possible the dele- 
terious action of the sea ; any part likely to be de- 
teriorated, such as the engines and all metallic 
fittings, being covered with tar or tallow. Peace 
being concluded, tbe struggle was commenced be- 
tween man and the sea. Gowan equipped himself 
as a diver, visited and examined the half-buried 
hulks of tlie ships, and determined that the sea 
should yield the sunken vessels; some, he was of 
opinion, might be recovered entire, others piece by 
piece. 

An enormous pump, raising nearly 1000 tons per 
minute, was used to withdraw the water from the in- 
terior of the vessels, the portholes and other openings 
of which had been previously imperfectly closed. 
This powerful machine emptied the hulk of a sub- 
merged vessel in a very short space of time. The 
lightening was so sudden, that the vessel rose to the 
surface before the water had time to re-enter by the 
various openings left. An enormous chain, 1000 
feet in length, each link in which weighed 150 kilo- 
grammes, served as an auxiliary to this pump, or when 
necessary replaced it entirely. To conclude, a detach- 
ment of divers was occupied in seeking for detached 
portions of wreck, much of which was already half- 
'^'•uiied in mud. 




I't^iilllM^^^^^ 



iMI'ii1llli'il!ililllJ|||||||llJlllJlll!lllllllll!ll!lil!illi;(ll(li)ll 



BEPAIHING SHIPS. 259 

4. Ships repaired without leaving the Water, and even while under 
Sail. 

We havealrea'ly mentioned the great utility of the 
diving apparatus in recovering sunken treasure, and 
in submarine masonry ; but its utility is much greater 
to the sailor when it becomes desirable to clean or 
repair the bottom of his vessel. Every day increasing 
importance attaches to the parts of the vessel below 
water-mark. Seagoing steam-vessels, especially, re- 
quire the frequent employment of submarine work- 
men. The apparatus formerly used, when the life of 
the man depended simply on the strength and con- 
sistence of his dress, was but little adapted to the 
rude bufifetings of the sea. The improved diving- 
dress which we have just described is far from pre- 
senting the same inconveniences. 

To clean or repair the bottom of a ship it is no 
iongei- necessary, as heretofore, to lay the vessel up 
in dock, and thus incur great expense, as well as the 
loss of valuable time. A rope-ladder, with rungs ot 
wood or iron, is passed under the vessel. The ladder 
having been stretched tight, the diver descends, and 
clings to its rungs by means of a triangle, the base of 
which is iron and the two sides of rope, terminated 
by an iron hook. This renders the use of his hands 
unnecessary to his support. He may fill his airtight 



260 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



clothing with air, and ihus be in a manner floated 
against tlie overhanging sides of the ship and sus- 
tained without any trouble. 

Tlie American monitor Miantonomoli returned from 
Cronstadt seriously damaged ', the sailors of the 




Fig. 49. — Caulking a Ship while undex* Sail. 



American frigate Colorado repaired tlie vessel in 
Clierbourg Roads, during rough weather, in the space 
of five days. Cruising in the Mediterranean, the 
same vessel received fresh damage in a pipe at the 



I'JXrh'KlKXCi:S of DJ.VEH>. 2U1 

sfeiu. The sailors, provided with the iin[)r.!ved ;ij)- 
paratus, repaired the [»i[)e in seven hours. 

It is very important to keep the bottoms of vessels 
cleansed while they are on a voyage, especially in 
hot climates. If the apparatus were emph)yed by 
passage-boats, a great economy of coal would be ef- 
fected. In 109 hours of labour beneath the water, 
th(^ armour-plated ram Taureau, which had been 
afloat four months, and the bottom of which was 
thickly coveied with seaweed, little shells, and muscles, 
was completely cleansed ; its speed, as ascertained 
immediately afterwards, was 12J knots — a high 
rate of sailing for a vessel of that class. 



5. Sensations of the Diver — Depth to whicli it is possible 
descend. 

There is a limit beyond which it is very dangerous, 
not to say impossible, to descend. This limit is at 
the depth of about 200 feet. The diver at that 
depth is subjected to the pressure of seven atmo- 
spheres, and any trifling incident might endanger 
his life. The reader will find a curious example of 
this in the Annales de Sauvetage Maritime (May, 
1866):- 

"On February 17, 1865, about 3 o'clock in the 
afternoon, a steamer on fire was sighted off Usha^'t, 



262 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

The vessel was low down in the water; it was dis- 
masted, and had lost its boats ; it sailed under a top- 
sail, gallant, and jib ; the other sails hung in shreds 
from their ropes Instead of anchoring in Stifi' Bay, 
situated west of the island of Ushant, towards which 
it appeared to direct its course, this illfated vessel 
got entangled in the rocks between one of the points 
of this bay anri the Men-Corn, and very shortly 
grounded. The sailors were seen to run about the 
deck as if they were mad. The sea was lumpy, wind 
violent in the extreme; no help could reach them 
from the land, as neither a rope nor the means of 
throwing one on board could be procured. The rising 
tide soon floated the vessel, now deprived of her 
rudder, however, which had been broken on the 
rocks; and being at the mercy of the winds and cur- 
rents, she drifted into the Helle channel. It now 
appeared that she had sprung a leak, as her stern 
gradually settled down, and an hour afterwards the 
vessel was wholly engulfed, just as darkness hid her 
from view. This ship was the Columhia. 

" Left Molene on the 31st of August, at half-past 4 
in the morning. About 11 o'clock the pilots grappled 
what they believed to be the Columbia. The 
Flambeau moored herself by four anchors as nearly 
as possible at the spot indicated. A sounding taken 
by the captain gave 180 feet as the depth to the 



KxrEHii:sci:s of divehs w6 

dock of the wreck ; the lead indicated pit-coal, red 
lead, and black paint The bottom to the south- 
east of the ship was about lOO fe t ; to the north- 
west about 230 feet. The northernmost anchor was 
at a depth of 250 feet. The four anchors were laid 
down by 1 o'clock. While the men dive we pre- 
pare the battery and the lamp, which burns well in 
the air. The pumps and other apparatus are got in 
order. At 25 minutes past 3 the diver, Deschamps, 
has his mask fitted on. 

'*The following is his own description of the 
impressions he received in his two descents : — 

*' First Trial. — He descends step by step, resting at 
intervals, and receiving and transmitting the signals 
with regularity. At the fiftieth step, water enters 
by the back valve, which he closes a little ; at the 
sixtieth he closes it entirely ; at the hundred-and- 
twentieth (130 feet) the water enters by his front 
valve, which he closes a little. He asks for more 
air. At the hundred-and-sixtieth step (180 feet) 
he makes a rather longer pause ; he shuts his valve 
still closer ; the air issues only by bubbles. He 
counts 174 steps ; the ladder does not reach the 
ground; he can feel and distinguish the cast-iron 
weights which serve to stretch the ladder; he 
hangs by them and rests his feet on the ground — a soft 
sand, into which he sinks. Just as he stoops to pick 



264 THE BOTTOM OF THE iSEA. 

up something white, like a pebble, he feels himself 
raised with great rapidity, and his ieet strike against 
each rung in the ladder ; he holds the ladder with 
one hand, but cannot succeed in grasping it with 
the other. An accident has happened to the pumps, 
and he has not been in any way conscious of it. 
At the fiftieth step he loses sight of the lamp and 
wires ; they had appeared to him like ordinary thin 
brass wires. On touching the ground he felt the 
water enter at his right foot. 

" Second Trial. — At the fortieth step, water enters 
by the back valve ; he screws it up a little, and is 
obliged to close it at the sixtieth. At 160 feet, 
water enters by the front valve, which he holds 
nearly closed. At 195 feet, water enters by his leg; 
he closes the valve and rests on the sand, in which 
his feet sink. The pressure is general over the 
whole body, and is exerted on the bladder, which 
empties itself involuntarily. This effect had also 
been produced with less intensity when he reached 
the ground the first time. He detaches one end of 
his guide-cord; he can distinguish this cord, the 
weights, his hands, and he advances a few steps. 
He has great difficulty in withdniwing his feet from 
the sand, to which he feels rooted. All at once his 
sight is obscured, his head turns; he returns in- 
stinctively to the ladder, and asks to be i-aised. He 



EXPERIENCES OF DIVERS. 205 

begins to ascend as well as his streno:th will allow ; 
feels himself impeded by his guide-cord, which he 
cuts ; and then rises alone very rapidly, having lost 
his senses. A violent shock brings him to ; he 
recognises the sides of the ship, against which his 
mask has struck, and regains his courage. He waves 
his hand over the surface of the water, and feels him- 
self sinking. His mask having got displaced, the 
collar almost chokes him. He feels himself seized 
by the arms, and grasps a rope which his hand ha| - 
pened to touch. He again loses consciousness for a 
moment in the ship's boat, and asks to be raised on 
deck as soon as his mask shall be unscrewed. He 
suffers much from the right hand, breathes with 
difficulty ; his extremities are cold, and neck painful. 
Twice he nearly faints, and ceases to breathe. His 
sight appears troubled, everything turns round with 
him, and his gaze has no steadiness. 

" We unanimously concluded that the state of the 
diver and his apparatus proved that neither could 
work with regularity under a pressure of six atmo- 
spheres, and that it would be very imprudent to 
expose the lives of men by causing them to work 
under this pressure. The diver wished to repeat th<^ 
attempt, but neither the captain nor the engineers 
would permit him to do so. The above experiments 
«^how that the diver may breathe, tiiat his organs 



266 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

may remain in their normal state, and he may pre- 
serve his presence of mind, to a depth of 13v) feet ; 
but when he exceeds this depth by 10 or 20 feet, 
the external pressure causes physiological effects on 
his organs independent of his wilh One hundred 
and thirty feet is therefore the depth which experi- 
ment shows to be the greatest at which any hope 
can be entertained of performing any prolonged 
submarine work. . . . Within this limit, security to 
life is perfectly compatible with the conditions in- 
volved in an attempt to recover any ship or sunken 
treasure which will pay the necessary expenses. 

(Signed) " Carvallo." 



6. Extreme diflficulty of working below Water — Submarine founda- 
tions — Stone worked when in position. 

It appears from what we have stated above, that, 
notwithstanding all the efforts of genius, we cannot 
penetrate the oceanic abysses. Nearly all that we 
can do must be done on the borders of the vast ex- 
panse. Nevertheless, our visits to the sea, though 
limited, have a great theoretical and practical im- 
portance, of which we have already cited numerous 
examples. 

The art of diving is almost indispensable in build- 
ing submarine constructions. What great work can 



SUBMARINE MASONRY. 267 

ft man perform who works in the '^ark, casting his 
materials nl iiost liaphazard into the lap of an ele- 
ment which fie dares not or cannot grapple with? 
Would his labours be much more valuable if lie had 
to dive and leave the water every instant, throwing 
only a coup d'oeil over the work which he could not 
wait to improve or advance ? 

When, by continuous efforts, and by the use of an 
immense amount of materials, man shall have built 
up a foundation in the bed of the sea, he will still 
find himself continually arrested by the difficulty of 
making permanent progress at the surface. In calm 
weather his building goes on apace ; he is proud of it, 
and regards the sea as a subjugated enemy. But 
the furious waves of a sudden tempest breaks down 
his work as if by enchantment, as if it had deter 
mined to crush man wdth the greater humiliation 
for having allowed him sufficient respite to make 
such arduous progress. 

The beautiful breakwater at Cherbourg, one of 
the most gigantic of modern undertakings, had been 
thrown down many times by the sea before it stood 
in its invincible strength to form an impassable 
barrier to the fury of the waves. Such works were 
formerly built by casting into the sea at the chosen 
site a vast number of immense boulders, stones, and 
concrete, piling them up in the irregular pell-melJ 



2G8 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



fashion attributed to the giants in the fable when 
seeking to scale the heavens. These works are 
now effected with less precipitation and infinitely 
inore studied circumspection; enormous blocks are 
built one upon another, upon which the sea may 
exercise its utmost fury in vain. These blocks are 




Fig. 50. — Sinking Blocks of artificial Stune at Cherbou;g. 

manufactured on the spot, by filling enormous rec- 
tiUK'ular caissons with a kind of coarse concrete, 
which hardens by contact with the air, and j.ar- 
ticularly with water (fig. 50). 



WORKS AT CHERBOURG. 269 

When tne block is sufliciently solidified to bear 
submersion, the mould is removed and the block is 
sunk into the sea. But the diver must have first 
prepared the Ibun latious of this cyclopean wall on a 
periect level. Provided with levers aud other tools, 
he raises the block, and places it in the exact position 
indicated by the engineer. U'he care demande 1 bv 



Harbour g'^s^^^s^^^ F Level of llic S(a at liidi-tide. 




Fig, 51. — Vertical Section of Breakwater at Cherbourg, 

A. Iiockvvork of loiigh stones, D. Foundation of artificial stone. 

B. Unwrought blocks. E. Wall laid in hydraulic mortaj-. 

C. Blocks of squared stone. F, Granite facing, 

this process renders it necessary that the divers 
should be continually descending and ascending, in 
order to examine the work on all sides. Furnished 
with the apparatus we have described, they can, by 
means of a simple tap, fill or empty their caoutchouc 



-ar/O THE BOTTOM OF THE SL:A. 

clothing of the air it contaiDS, and thus make it 
answer the purpose of a swimming-bladder. They 
may manoeuvre in the most varied manner when 
beneath the water by simply turning a tap. The 
blocks of stone are thus built up with as much 
regularity as on dry land, and are capable of oppos- 
ing the greatest possible resistance to the incessant 
attacks of the waves. 



7. Diving Bells — Stationary Compressed-air Apparatns. 

Previous to the invention of the apparatus which 
we have now described at some length, diving-bells 
were employed in the construction of jetties, fortifica- 
tions, lighthouses, docks — in a word, in all important 
submarine work. This invention consists of a large 
cast-iron bell, communicating, at its upper part, witli 
a force-pump. 

Invert a common drinking-glass in a basin of water ; 
the air diminishes in volume as the glass is sunk 
further in the water ; indeed, its bulk may be seen to 
decrease by the gradual rise of the water in the 
glass. The air collects in the upper part of the glass, 
and becomes gradually more compressed — preventing 
the water, however, from completely filling the vessel. 
Make a communication between the bottom of the 
glass and a reservoir of air compressed to the same 



DIVING BELLS. 



271 



extent as that in the ^lass, the water still leiiiaining 
at the same levtl. Compress this someuhat muiv, 
it drives the water from the ghl^s, which it fills. This 
is precisely what happens in the cliving-belh 




Fig. 52.— Diving Bell. 



AVhile the bell descends the workmen are supported 
on transverse benches. Having reached the bottom, 
the air from the pump drives out all the water from 
the bell, and the men can then leave their seats and 
commence work. As they cannot leave the bell^ 



272 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



the field of their operations is necesstirily limited — 
an inconvenience which is remedied by moving the 
bell laterally. In fact, this inconvenience is only 
nominal when, as is often the case, the labour 
consists in making an excavation in one particular 




Fig, 53. — Fixed Apparatus, supplied with Compressed Air. 



spot. In such cases the diving-bel] may be even 
advantageously replaced by apparatus employing 
compressed air, and of such a form as the conditions 
of the work demand. It was by the exercise of 



CO.MSTEUCTWN OF BRIDGElS. 273 

ingenuity in this respect that the magnificent bridge 
over the Khine, near Strasbourg, was so rapidly con- 
structed. 

Each of the piers of this bridge rests on a founda- 
tion composed of four iron caissons of large size and 
weight. Each caisson was open at its lower part 
(Hg. 53). The uppei- part supported three shafts, 
a middle and two lateral ones. All three rose above 
the surface of the waters of the Rhine. The middle 
shaft communicated with the open air, and the water 
rose in it to the general level of the river. It enclosed 
a dredging-apparatns worked by a steam-engine. 
This dredge, as well as the shaft itself, descended to 
the bottom of the river. The workmen loaded the 
compartments of the dredge, which discharged its 
load into the river. 

The two lateral shafts terminated at the upper 
part of the caisson. The workmen first shut them- 
selves up hermetically in the upper part of the shaft, 
which they afterwards put in communication with 
blowing-machines. The compressed air driven by 
these machines gradually expelle I the air from the 
shaft, and ultimately from the caisson, into which the 
workmen would now descend and coinnience their 
excavations, carrying the debris to the dredges. 
When the workmen wish to leave, they first mount 
to the upper part of the lateral sh.ift ; the action of 



274 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

the blowing-machine is then gradually lessened, so 
as to diminish by degrees the pressure of the air they 
breathe. The water rises at the same time in the 
caissons and lateral shafts until it has attained the 
level of the river. The dour is then opened and the 
men leave their prison, which may be regarded as 
a species of diving-bell, but of a form devise 1 for a 
special service. 



8. Payerne's Submarine Hydrostat 

The diving-bell proper lias been much improved by 
M. Payerne. His *' Submarine Hydrostat " possesses 
the immense advantage of being capable, at the will 
of those enclosed in it, either of floating on the sur- 
face, or of sinking or rising, as may be desired. 
Thirty men may work in it with ease for a number 
of hours without inconvenience. It is therefore oj 
great service in clearing port'^, and in facilitating the 
execution of other submarine work. 

The principle of the machine is very ingenious. 
Externally, it has the appearance of one large 
rectangular box, surmoanted by another smaller 
one, completely closed in except at the bottom. 

The interior of the hydrostat consists of three 
principal compartments. The lower, or hold^ is open 



PAYEKNE'S HYDROS! AT. 275 

below, as just stated, and communicates by a large 
ohiiimey, or shaft, with the upper compartment, or 
hetween-declis. Between these is a third compartment, 
or orlop-deck, which only commuiiicates with the 
others by means of stopcocks. All round the lioM 
and the orlop-deck runs a gallery, hermetically 
closed, and connected with the former compartments 
by stopcocks only. The lower part of the gallery 
receives the ballast of the machine, whilst the upper 
is filled with air or water as occasion requires. (Fig. 
54.) 

Whilst the hydrostat floats, the hold and one por- 
tion of the shaft are full of water; the orloj)-decJc, iU 
gallery, and the hetween- decks being full of air. A 
lift and force-pump are found in the latter, where 
the workmen would now be stationed. 

When it is wished to sink the hydrostat, the hatch 
of the l.t'tweeu-decks and the door of the shaft are 
closed hermetically. The pump is worked in such a 
manner as to draw water from the exterior, and fill 
tlie orlo[)-deck and its gallery. A pipe furnished 
with a stopcock allows communication between the 
upper part of the orlop-deck and the hold. At the 
same time that the latter is filling with compressed 
air, the apj^aratus fills with water, gets heavier, and 
ultimately sinks. '1 he water which was in the hold 
has, it is true, been expelled ; but the contents of 



276 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



this compartment are equal to that of the orlop-deck. 
The hold was originally full of water, but now both 
the orlop-deck and the gallery are full. The work- 
men now open the door of the shaft and descend 
into the hold, having the bottom of the sea for a 




Fig, 54. — Payerne's Submarine Hydrostat. 

floor, and the scene of their labours. One or two 
remain in the between-decks, there to store away 
the excavated material, and work the pump when 
necessary. 



PAY ERNE'S HYDItOSTAT. '277 

When they wish to rise again to the surface, the 
men re-enter the between -decks by the shaft, which 
they close hermetically. The pump is worked so as 
to withdraw the air from the hold, and transmit 
it to the orlop-deck and gallery. The water escapes 
by the pipe communicating with the exterior. The 
hydrostat becomes lighter as the hold fills with 
water, and soon floats on the surface as before. The 
men then open the hatch, and obtain communication 
with the outer world. The hydrostat is removed 
from one spot to another by towing. 

The hold is square. It measures about 26 feet in 
the side, by 6 feet 6 inches in depth. The orlojp-dech 
lias the same dimensions. The hetween-decJcs has the 
same depth, but measures only 16 feet in the side. 
The hydrostat is, therefore, nearly 20 feet in height, 
and its base, which has the bottom of the sea for a 
floor, covers an area of 625 square feet. We have 
already stated that an airtight gallery surrounds both 
the lower storeys. This gallery, like the orlojp-dech^ 
is divided into a number of smaller compartments, 
which can be made to communicate, or kept distinct, 
by means of stopcocks. 

M. Payerne's submarine hydrostat resolves several 
difficulties at once. By interior arrangements, as we 
have seen, it may be made to rise or fall at will, and 
it will readily float about like a raft. This ingenious 



278 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

machine has ah-ea'Jy been put to the test. The port 
of Fecamp was choke I up vvitli shiugle, wliich closed 
it against all vessels beyond a certain tonnnge. The 
hydrostat was employed, and the port cleaned and 
again opened to commerce. The cases m which it 
might be employed with advantage are obviously 
very numerous. 

Ports are more generally ma le by digging vast 
basins in the neighbourhood of coasts than by seeking 
to enclose portions of the sea by means of jetties. 
The work is more easily and quickly done in the 
open air, and there is not the probability that the sea 
will overturn it at any moment. The port enclosed 
by hills, or the natural port, has the double advantage 
of giving shelter both against wind and wave. But if 
the port fill up gradually, if its mouth become 
obstructed by mud or sand washe 1 up by the sea, 
the hydrostat may be a Ivantageonsly employed. 

9. Yilleroy's Submarine Ijoat. 

What ingenuity has been brought to bear on the 
construction of submarine engines, both for purposes 
of destruction and investigation! Boats to sail l)e- 
neath the water, diving-bells and dresses, submarine 
fireships and torpedoes, are all so many evidences of 
the activity developed in the human mind by the sea. 



riLLEROY S b I BMA h'JNE BOA T. 9.7- 

M. YiDeroy, a Froiidi engineer, constnicte;! at 
Philadelpliia, a few years ago, a remarkable macliin(% 
intended to swim at any de[)tli beneatli tlie surface 
of the sea that its conductor nii_ht desire. This sub- 
marine vessel ^^as shaped like a cylinder, with conic.. I 




Fiff. 55. — Villt^rov's Submarine Boat. 



ends. It was closed hermetically. It was lighted 
by a large number of circular windows cut in its iron 
skin, and closed up with thick glass. A hatchway 
allowed ingress and egress. Gutta-percha tubes, 
placed in the interior, communicated with the exterior 



280 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

by means of a conduit-tube furnished with a stop- 
cock. By means of a pump the vessel could be filled 
with water at will. To cause the vessel to sink it 
was only necessary to allow the water to penetrate 
these tubes ; its ejection caused the vessel to rise. A 
screw worked at the stern. 

Viileroy's structure \Aas 35 feet in length, and 44 
inches in diameter. The screw was 3 feet in diameter. 
By lighting the bottom of the sea by means of an 
electric light placed in the interior of the vessel, a 
convenient method of exploration would be obtained, 
at least in the neighbourhood of the coasts. 

This vessel, built during the American war contem- 
poraneously with the production of the monitors, 
which may be said to have saved the North from the 
humiliation of defeat, is a worthy companion of the 
torperlo — that terrible instrument of war, which, in a 
moment of supposed security, is capable of destroying 
the most formidable ship of war with even more cer- 
tainty than a tempest. 



10. Employment of Torpedoes in clearing Channels smd the 
p]n trances to Ports. 



In our age — which may be called an age of progress, 
«nu*e it has witnessrd the dovelonment of so manv 



TORPEDOES. 281 

ideas which illustrate the fraternity of men, and tlie 
solidarity of their interests, without ^vhich we are 
little superior to the brutes — liow many instruments 
of destruction have been converted from their 
original design in the interests of our common 
humanity, and applied to beneficent purposes! 
Manby in England, and Delvigne in France, have 
transformed the cannon into an instrument for the 
salvation of life, so that the destructive missile is 
hurled through the air as a messenger of liope to 
the shipwrecked crew, by carrying the thread on 
which depends their safety. In the same spirit, 
Tixier has employed the torpedo as an instrument of 
salvation. The Dunkirk Pilot mentions an opera- 
tion, the perfect success of which leaves no doubt 
of the happy results we may expect from the ser- 
vices of this terrible yet docile auxiliary of man. 

The schooner Virginie, of St. Malo, sunk at the 
entrance to that port by the steamboat Zingari, was 
partly broken up by a torpedo exploded in its hold 
by M. Franpois Tixier, who undertook this operation 
and brought it to a successful termination. The 
various phases of the explosion, up to the time which 
would elapse between igniting the Bickford fuse 
and the result itself, had been previously indicated 
with remarkable precision, which the result fully 
confirmed, and which was attested by numerous 



282 



THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 



spectators. The explosion, which caused a tremen- 
dous upheaval of the water and pieces of wreciv, 
accompanied with quantities of sand, was received 
with acchimations by tiie spectators, as a demonstra- 
tion that the expectations of tlie operator had been 




I'ig. 56. — Removing an Obstruction by means of a Torpedo. 

fulfilled. This experiment proves that we have, 
even now, an important addition to our means of 
removing the debris arising from disasters similar to 
the above, the number of which has increased 
greatlv of late vears. The whole of the wreck may 



REMOVING OBSTRUCTIONS. 283 

thus be removed piecemeal, until tlie passage shall 
have been completely cleared, and the possible cause 
of many serious accidents removed. 

It is seldom that so powerful an instrument as the 
torpedo is necessary, but submarine blasting is often 
resorted to ; and, in such cases, a diver comes into 
requisition. He directs the apparatus, worked either 
by hand or steam-power, and prepares the ground 
for the introduction of the destructive agent. When 
the hole is made he inserts the iron vessel filled with 
powder or nitro-glycerine. He covers it with cement, 
and places it in communication with the shore, by 
means of conducting wires for the electric current, 
or a fuse which will burn under water. The diver 
then retires. Either the fuse is lighted, or an 
electric curj-ent is sent through the wires, and the 
explosion takes place. 

At great depths the action of the powder is pro- 
digious. Compressed by a column of water, the 
gases exert an increased force on the rock (if that 
be the nature of the obstruction), and tear it in a 
thousand directions. At the surface there is scarcely 
any indication of the concussion below, except a 
slight agitation of the water. Dead fish float about 
the scene of action, and a hollow sound is heard. 
If, however, the depth of the water be slight, the 
explosion causes the projection of a jet into the air, 



284 TEE BOTTOM OF TILE SEA. 

and the rock is less affected by it. For this reason, 
vvliere there is a tide, the operators await the period 
when it is at its highest before tiring the charge. 
This precaution is more than ever necessary where 
the rock is broken up, and it is sufficient to take 
advantage of its natural crevices and employ a charge 
applied in bottles. 



11. English Mines beneath the Ocean. 

Man's submarine labours are not limited to the 
surface of the sea-bottom. Nature hides some of 
her treasures beneath the sea as well as beneath 
mountains. Coal, iron, tin, and other minerals are 
often obtained from great depths. A vertical shaft 
affords communication with the horizontal galleries 
from which the mineral is extracted. At several 
points of the English coast the miner does not hesi- 
tate to carry his galleries beneath the sea, at the 
risk of being drowned, if the least fissure permits 
the ingress of water. But this danger is also en- 
countered in ordinary mines, for the immense bodies 
of water known to exist in the crust of the earth 
would be much more than sufficient to destroy, in an 
instant, the most gigantic subterranean works. The 
enterprise is not, therefore, so hazardous as might 
appear at first sight ; it presents in other cases about 



MINES BENEATH THE OCEAN. 



285 



tlie same amount of difficulty. Fire-damp is as 
dangerous, and its effects are as disastrous in the one 
case as in the other. Kindled beneath the sea, it soon 
bursts its rocky barriers ; the fire spreads, an ex- 
plosion destroys the walls of the subterranean chan- 
nel, entire hills are lifted or overthrown as by a 
volcanic eruption. It is of little consequence to the 




Fig. 57. — Section of a Tin Mine in Cornwall, 

miner that this catastrophe takes j^lace under the 
sea ; the danger is not greater than if it happened 
in the middle of a continent. Before being drowned, 
he would be burnt or crushed. Let us reserve our 
compassion for the poor sailor, who congratulates 
himself upon having reached an hospitable coast, 
and suddenly sees his vessel scattered to the winds 
and waves by the violence of a submarine explosion. 



286 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



CHANGES IN PKOGKESS AT THE BOTTOMS OF SEAS 
—THEIR UNIVERSALITY. 



1. Extent of the movements of the Terrestrial Crust — Nature in 
cessautly at work — The gradual Cooling of the Earth a cause of 
its present form, owing to the crumpling and breaking of its 
Crust. 

Everything material is mutable : continuity of 
change is the great law of nature. From the subtlest 
gas which escapes our visual observation, to the solid 
rock, all is subject to movement and transformation. 
The smallest atom and the mightiest solar system 
alike obey the laws of gravitation, and move on in 
cycles of endless progression. The modifications 
which everything, small and great, in the pliysical 
world is undergoing may be more or less apparent, 
more or less rapid; but whether it be or be not. de- 
monstrable to the sense, it takes place all the same, 
so that we may truly say that all matter, however 
apparently dead, pulsates with life. 

Animals and plants are born, grow, and die. The 
elements which concur towards their formation and 
development are incessantly renewed. Having accom- 



ALL THINGS MUTABLE. 2£7 

plished their part in the organisation to which they 
had accrued, they are rejected, and their place taken 
by others. At a given moment they are, so to say, 
shunted. off the track they had followed, and moved 
on a line to contract new alliances. To the being 
with whose existence they were identified succeeds 
another, totally different ; instead of the concentra- 
tion of force, there reigns for awhile anarchy ; and 
anarchy is followed by the rise of fresh organisations, 
destined in their turn to disappear. There is no 
organised being that is immutable, any more than a 
simple atom that is so. 

In like manner we learn from history that whole 
peoples, or national individualities, are born, grow, 
and die, like individual men, to be succeeded by 
others. Nay, even the species is no exception to the 
law of everlasting change. 

But at least, you will say, the solid rock is allowed 
to repose in quiet, and enjoy the privilege of im- 
mutability ? No ; its surface is exposed to the 
action of all manner of exterior influences, and eve 
every variation of temperature profoundly affects 
that apparently unchangeable mass. The truth is, 
our view of things is a very limited one. The in- 
finitely great escapes us as well as the infinitely 
little. Even a wheel moving with great rapidity 
seems as if it did not move. Again, an extremely 



288 277^ BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

slow movement of the same wheel would not hp> 
observed. 

The air is composed of a great number of elements. 
Oxj^gen and nitrogen form the greater part of its 
composition. The vapour of water, carbonic acid gas, 
and every kind of emanation from the earth's surface, 
add themselves to the two first-named gases. Oxygen 
is absorbed by animals, and replaced by carbonic 
acid. The converse takes place in vegetation, and a 
like exchange of gases occurs in combustion. 

The vapour of water, raised by the action of the 
winds from the vast oceanic reservoirs, floats above us 
in the form of clouds, and is distributed over the 
surface of the earth in beneficent showers. But 
again the water finds its way back by means of 
rivers and floods to its original point of departure, to 
be again converted into vapour and recommence the 
cycle of its transformations. 

There is a compensating or balancing process 
continually going on among the numerous causes of 
change, which renders the composition of the air 
sensibly constant, and makes its every movement 
tend to uniformity. 

The cloud which obscures the summit of a moun- 
tain marks the locality of a very rapid movement of the 
air. This motion is caused by the contact of a hot 
and moist air with one much colder. But the wind bears 



APPARENT IMMOBI LIT Y. 289 

the c'lo::(l auay, and it dissolves aj>aiii, or vanishes 
when the air is dry. The apparent immobility of a 
cioud on the top of a mountain is caused by its being 
constantly re-formed. Its variations are really inces- 
sant and rapid. They pass unobserved by us, and 
liiu«, fur a long- period together, mountain-clouds 
appear as if they had settled down immutable. Very 
slow changes, as we have remarked above, present 
the appearance of unchangeableness, no less than 
very rapid ones. 

The vault of heaven is thickly besprent with stars, 
the greater number of which we call " fixed," while a 
few, called " planets,'* constantly change their places. 
The fixed stars, while preserving the same relative 
position unchanged, seem, as a whole, to make a 
daily revolution round a point marked by the polar 
star, and the latter, or centre of rotation, does not at 
first sight appear to shift its position. A long and 
careful study of the heavens, however, has shown 
that this is not the case. The apparent revolution 
of the whole concave of stars is accounted for by th(. 
fact that the earth moves on its axis, as well as 
describes an orbit round the sun. But the stars are 
at such an enormous distance from us that the axis 
of our globe remains, practically, parallel to itself 
during the whole period of the earth's annual revo- 
lution, so that, Jit any given period of the year, the 

u 



290 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

stars are seen in the same places as if the centre of 
the earth were a fixed position — that is to say, as if 
it always pointed to the same spot in the heavens. 
This constant parallelism of the earth's axis is, how- 
ever, only apparent. In reality, it shifts to the 
extent (taking the extreme limit) of 4°, its revolution 
describing a cone in about 20,000 years. 

If the stars are thus shifted from their apparently 
fixed position, their relative situation is at least con- 
stant, you will say? Careful observation, extended 
over many years, has shown the contrary. The 
whole solar system is moving, as if it were one com- 
pact and independent organisation, through space. 
Astronomers have demonstrated that it is approaching 
the constellation Hercules, but it would require ages 
of observation to detect any variation in the relative 
positions of the fixed stars. Such observation would 
demonstrate by an extraordinary effect of perspective, 
which it is no part of our present business to ex- 
plain, that their distance from Hercules is in- 
creasing. 

Every day the sun rises above the horizon, and 
TiCts at the opposite extremity of the heavens ; so the 
h(afc of the day succeeds constantly the cold of the 
night. Year after year the ice is melted by the 
soft breath of the spring ; year after year summer 
ripens the fruits of the earth. Year after year 



CLIMATE GRADUALLY CJIAyUJNir. 291 

autumn, with its heats and tempests, despoils the 
trees of their beautiful verdure ; then, with the same 
regularity of succession, winter hangs her snowy 
garlands on the branches, and strikes with sudden 
paralysis the mountain torrent. The same succes- 
sion of phenomena appears to be continually repro- 
duced, with such modifications as would suggest a 
capricious and ill-regulated will. Notwithstanding 
that apparent regularity, within certain limits, the 
climate of the earth is undergoing a slow but con- 
stant variation. The debris of every kind found in 
the earth's crust affords demonstrative proof that 
the distribution of temperature on the surface of the 
globe has been very different at remote periods from 
what it is at present. The surface, beyond doubt, 
has been subject to numerous vicissitudes; but at 
least, you will say, the centre of the earth has re- 
mained unchangeably the same. 

This, however, cannot be the case; for, as the 
earth has grown gradually cooler, its crust has in- 
creased in thickness and solidity. The contraction 
towards the centre has been the cause of breakageb 
and crumplings in the earth's crust, and, consequentl), 
of the upheaval of mountains and continents, the 
sinking of the surface to form valleys, and, generally 
speaking, of such variations of the terrestrial land- 
scape as could only be produced through a long 



292 THE BOTTOM OF THE SKA. 

succession of ages. The human race has not existed 
for a sufficiently long period to witness the grander 
catastrophes or changes of what, nevertheless, there 
are palpable traces remaining to attest the reality. 

We are the living witnesses, however, of changes 
whose average rapidity permits our senses to follow 
the phenomena, while our memory or our records 
enables us to compare with ease the different phases 
through which they pass. We observe that the sea 
changes its level day after day, as if it oscillated 
around a fixed point. We are witnesses to the silting- 
up of ports by the action of marine currents ; to the 
ravages of the sea when it hurls its waves against a 
rocky coast ; and to the growth of the polypier, which 
opposes an invincible rampart of stone against the 
assaults of the ocean, and builds up islands from the 
very bosom of the waters. We see the mountains 
crumble down under the action of atmospheric agen- 
cies ; the debris of continents washed down by rivers 
into the sea, to fill up its abysses ; the floating ice- 
chariots scattering the spoil of arctic lands over every 
part of their route ; marine currents drawing in their 
train whatever they encounter, and accumulating 
upon their borders immense deposits of vegetable 
and animal remains, as well as of sand and mud. 
We see the foraminiferae, those pigmies of creation. 



SOLWItlCATlON OF THE EARTH. 293 

obstinately, and with immense labour, striving to 
build up every possible obstacle to navigation ; while 
volcanoes, like malignant demons, destroy the exist- 
ing basin of the ocean, or at least are incessantly 
active in modifying its level, or filling up its hollows 
with ashes and cinders. With our own eyes we are 
witnesses of these and innumerable other agencies of 
change ; and, knowing the vastness of their con- 
sequences, we judge, in regard to past effects, what 
causes have been in action from the results they 
have produced. 

For this reason, the exploration of the bottom of 
the sea is an excellent preparation to the study of 
the past history of our planet, and of its future pos- 
sibilities. The sea itself would not exist except for 
the fact that the earth was originally a fiery mass, 
the surface of which has become solidified, and 
in the process of cooling has allowed the aqueous 
vapours to condense. Originally extended with an 
even surface over the whole globe, the sea served 
everywhere as the menstruum of the first solid pre- 
cipitations. Thenceforth the crust of the earth grew 
in solidity and depth, both from the exterior and the 
interior — on the one side by sedimentation, on the 
other by solidification. 

The cooling process continued. The crust, too 



294 THE BOTTOM OF THE SKA 

large for the kernel which it everywhere enveloped, 
caved in, and thus the first heaving-up of mountainous 
masses marked the end of a geologic period. Lands 
rose above the waters, and marine deposits no longer 
covered the entire globe. The constancy of the 
ocean temperature, owing to the near neighbourhood 
of igneous matters, rendered very feeble, or alto- 
gether prevented, the formation of marine currents. 
As the equilibrium gradually ceased to exist in the 
liquid mass, owing to the constant growth and the 
changes that were taking place in the earth's crust, 
ocean- currents came into being. 

The atmosphere was, in its turn, modified by con- 
tinual precipitations and despoiled of its vapour of 
wat^r, which went to elevate the level of the seas. 
This operation again brought into existence atmo- 
spheric currents. 

The crust of the earth still continmng to cool, 
fresh collapses would take place, and fresh wrinklings 
or foldings of the solid envelope already formed. 
New mountains arose from tlie bosom of the waters, 
new rendings of the soil gave free passage to the 
igneous matters in the interior, and hence the great 
extent to which volcanic matter is found spread over 
the surface. By this time living creatures had ap- 
peared, which at first were remarkable for the sim- 
plicity of their structure and for the capability of 



CHANGE OF THE SEASHORES. 295 

the same species to dwell, at the same time, on any 
part of the earth. The currents of the atmosphere 
and the ocean were more and more decidedly and 
definitively established. 

The extent of dry land was continually increased 
by fresh elevations above the waters. Kivers and 
lakes were formed ; in addition to the hitherto ex- 
clusively marine deposits were those of the fresh 
waters and salt pools. Plants growing in marshes 
or on dry lands extended their species over new con- 
tinents. 

As time went on, the inequality of temperature at 
different points of the globe augmented ; the existing 
mountains increased in height; new ones were heaved 
up ; the fauna and the flora became more localised, 
and the marine and atmospheric currents approached 
insensibly to the condition in \\hich we find them. 



2. The Shore — Its apparent fixity — Traces of the presence of the 
Ocean almost universal. 



Have we yet reached fixed conditions, so far as 
reo-ards the earth's surface ? Can we be certain that 
some fresh revolution of the globe will not destroy 
the edifices of which we are so proud, and wrap in a 
watery shroud the accumulated fruits of civilisation ? 
If we have indulged in any illusion, it is only neces- 



296 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

sary to study with care the phenomena by which W6 
are surrounded to dispel it for ever. 

Continual change is going on in the basins of 
seas. These changes make, generally speaking, but 
slow progress, and are therefore difficult to follow ; 
but little by little they assume a character of the 
greatest importance. Sometimes, however, they are 
sudden, and accompanied by phenomena so terrible 
as to strike mankind with horror, and apparently to 
disturb the harmony of the universe. 

How shall we demonstrate the truth ot our state- 
ment, that the bed of the Ocean is constantly chang- 
ing? What we observe is that the sea rushes 
furiously against the shore, and throws its foam over 
the highest rocks. As the waves roll in, it would 
almost seem as if nothing could oppose a barrier to 
them : suddenly they are arrested, and the dreaded 
power expends itself by diffusion, as it were, in an 
inoffensive sheet of water. But another wave follows 
the first. A third presses on, and almost overleaps 
the former two. Nevertheless each succeeding column 
of the invading army is vanquished at the same 
point ; in a word, the sea has encountered its shore. 

Thus, day after day, the ocean seems to hurl 
defiance against the earth ; and if it retires, it is to 
renew the assault against the barriers which it seems 
resolved to break through, with redoubled strength. 



CIIAXGES STILL L\ FltOGRESS. 207 

Twice every day it advances, and covers with its 
waters the vast extent of its coasts ; twice it retires, 
abandoning to men some of its spoils and treasures 
Kestrained by a powerful though invisible hand, it 
apparently yields to the obstacle which opposes its 
advance. Its movement is so regular that we can 
determine, for every point of our coasts, the exar^t 
times of high and low water. 

Thus regarded, the shore of the ocean would appear 
to be the very type of unchangeableness. The sea 
cannot pass it ; in our confidence we cultivate lands, 
build cities, construct ports and harbours, and throw 
out piers, as if we dared the sea to do its worst. If 
we would know how puny oar best efforts are, let us 
note the fact that marine shells, the fossil remains of 
fish, and other evidences of the presence of the ocean, 
are found on the highest mountains. This debris of 
former ages has been converted into stone, and now 
exists in gigantic masses. It is impossible to say how 
many ages may have elapsed since they were living 
beings : history and human tradition take no account 
of them. 

Are we to imagine that those remote ages were 
visited by the most frightful of all catastrophes, and 
that we, more privileged, are exempt from similar 
changes and their attendant dangers ? No ; the 
Supreme Intelligence which governs the universe 



298 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

has regulated the working of its stupendous me- 
chanism. Everything occurs at the regulated time. 
Nothing is left to chance. The sea has once covered 
the whole earth. Geology affords the data by which 
we may determine its limits at successive epochs. 
But it is not necessary even to revert to remote 
geological periods in order to be convinced of the 
fact that land and sea have frequently changed their 
relative level. 



Progressive enlargement of the Straits of Gibraltar during the 
Historic Period — Columns of the ancient Temple of Hercules 
submerged — Descriptions left by Avienus, Pliny, and Pom- 
ponius — Mellaria, Carteia, and Belon submerged — Other 
examples of Cities and Islands covered by the Waters, and of 
Mountains violently separated from Continents. 



The Straits of Gibraltar is a conquest of the ocean. 
Dureau de la Malle quotes the measurements of old 
geographers, and they tend to show that it has been 
continually enlarged even down to our own times. 

Avienus quotes a measurement on the authority of 
Daemon d'Amphipolis. It is nearly three miles, or 
more accurately 4694 English yards. He cites a 
subsequent measurement of nearly four miles, or 
6000 yards, made by the Athenian Euctemon. 

Scymnus of Ohio, in the year 143 B.C., found it 
measured nearly 24,000 yards, or about thirteen milos 



STBAITS OF GIBli ALTAR. 299 

on the side of the Atlantic, wliile at the presnt time 
it is double that distance between Spartel and Tra- 
fiilgar. 

Turanius Gracilis, who was born on the shores of 
the strait 100 years B.C., gives the width from Mel- 
laria, in 8pain, to Cape Blanco, on the African side, 
as about foui -tind-a-half miles, or, more accurately. 
7800 yards. 

Strabo estimates the greatest breadth at nearly 
seven miles, or about 12,000 yards. 

Pliny, who had been quaestor in Spain, and had 
visited the strait, gives about seven-and-a-half miles 
for the narrowest part, and about ten miles for the 
widest. 

Bishop Victor, about a.d. 500, found the distance 
about twelve miles ; the Spanish measurement at pre- 
sent is fourteen miles. 

These various estimates are good evidence that the 
strait has been gradually enlarged from remote times 
to the present. Besides this, Avienus relates that 
between Africa and Europe there were two wooded 
isles, on which were built a temple and altars in 
honour of Hercules. These were called the Pillars of 
Hercules. The same author mentions that the Car- 
thaginians were obliged to build flat-bottomed vessels 
to sail over the shallow water. Finally, he says, we 
know that Hannibal reports that there was a bottom- 



300 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 



less and boundless sea farther to the west — a proof 
that what he says about the Straits of Hercules may 
bi regarded as trustworthy. 

Pliny, who visited the straits, speaks of a low-lying 
island, covered with wild olives, situate in mid chan- 
nel, upon which was built the Temple of Hercules. 
Pomponius Mela, a Spaniard, to whom these parts 




i Jjectai ireadth ahomt 6iTniles— 

Greatest hreadth about 9 miles 




woo yds 



Fig, 58.— Straits of Gibraltar. 

1. View and Section in the time of Pliny. 

2. Section of the existing Charts. 

were familiar, pictures the strait as a channel broken 
by a number of small islands without names. In our 
day the largest ships sail freely over these waters. 

In 1748, on the occasion of a very low tide, the 
remains of the famous Temple of Hercules were dis- 
covered in the oceanic part of the strait, and some 
souvenirs of it were obtained for preservation. 

Jean Conduit, as related by Signer Ignacio Lopez de 



SUBMERGED CITIES. 301 

Ayla,in his " History oi' Gibraltar," assures us that the 
sea covers the greater part of the land on which stood 
the ancient city of Mellaria. Even in the Bay of 
Gibraltar the sea has engulfed a part of Carteia, or 
Algesiras. Three leagues to the west of Tarifa, the 
city of Belon occupied the shore of the strait. It is 
now engulfed, and we find traces of its existence 
beneath the waves. 

Colonel James, in his " History of the Straits 
of Hercules," mentions that during an earthquake, 
some ages ago, the Isle of Gales disappeared, together 
with the small islands opposite the city of Bactes, 
near Tarifa, and a rock named La Perle, which was 
once an island, and is now covered with more than 
twelve feet of water at low-tide. The same author 
speaks of violent shocks of earthquake, which, in the 
year 246 B.C., overthrew the last remaining part of 
the Isle of Cadiz, and left it completely covered by 
the sea. 

The earthquake of 1755, which destroyed the city 
of Lisbon, and was felt far and wide, was not, says 
Colonel James, to be compared for the violence of its 
effects with that which engulfed Cales, which was 
of many leagues in extent. Nevertheless, it was 
plainly I'elt at Gibraltar, wiiere Colonel James himself 
was an observer of the phenomenon. 

On the morning of the 1st of November, 1755, a 



302 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

shock was felt which lasted half a minute. It com- 
menced by a trembling of the earth, then a violent 
sliock succeeded, which was followed by a trembling 
similar to that with which the earthquake commenced, 
and which gradually diminished. The sea rose more 
than three yards above its ordinary level, and then 
sank, leaving dry upon the shore many fish, and all 
that it had at first engulfed. 

We may add to the list of cities that have been 
lost those of Helice and Bura, in Achaia, which were 
submerged in the year 368 B.C. The greater part of 
Lycadia w^as also covered by the waters. 

Strabo, in his Egyptian voyage, relates that he 
saw Mount Casius, which had been suddenly sepa- 
rated from the continent and become an island, which 
it was necessary to sail round to reach Phoenicia. 

Sorca, one of the Moluccas, was swallowed up by the 
sea during an earthquake in 1693. 

At Java a mountain, three leagues in circum- 
ference, disappeared suddenly in 1772. 

It is on record that a space of about sixty leagues, 
in the province of Chan-tsy, in China, was completely 
covered with water in a few days, in 1566. 

St. Lawrence once joined the American continent, 
out is now separated from it by an arm of the sea, 
some hundreds of yards broad. 

One of the most disastrous eruptions of the sea on 



DISASTERS IN ZEA LAM). 



303 



record is that wliich, in l-Ul], submerged more than 
two Imndred cities of FriesUiiid and Zealand. For a 
long time after this catastrophe, the summits of the 




Fig. 59, — Irruption of the Sea in Zealand. 

towns and the points of the steeples could be seen 
standing above the surface of the sea. 
• We might multiply these examples of the fact that 
the bottom of the sea is continually changing. Here 



304 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

cities, nay entire continents, are covered by tlie 
waters : there, on the other liand, the land has been 
known to rise, as in the case of the island of Julia, and 
in that of the Azores, and the Archipelago of Santorin. 
The port of Aigues Mortes has now three leagues of 
shore. The ruined Temple of Serapis, at Pozzuoli, was 
for a long time engulfed ; it is now uncovered again. 
In the north of Sweden the sea appears to be retiring, 
whilst it slowly invades the south of that country, and 
at no very distant period it was the cause of great 
destruction by its inroads in Pomerania. 



4. The Quantity of Water which covers the Earth is sensibly con- 
stant — An Elevation in one point, is balanced by a corre- 
sponding Subsidence in another — Aristotle's opinion about 
the Greek tradition of the Deluge — Tlie Earth will become 
dryer and colder. 

If the sea retires from a given place, another be 
comes submerged. We are, therefore, led to con* 
elude that the water area varies but little over the 
whole of the earth's surface, but that the bed in 
which it rests is ceaselessly modified. 

Such, moreover, was Aristotle's opinion. He be- 
lieved that the apparent changes in the level of the 
sea in any given spo^ could not be explained by the 
supposition that the seas were drying up, as certain 
philosophers of his time had imagined. In the 



OPINION OF AlillSTOTLi:. 305 

svords of this illustrious sauan : ' Only those ol narrow 
news and small experienc(3 attribute these partial 
changes to an overthrowing of the whole globe. 
When, in support of their views, they bring forward 
the drying-up of seas, and th(^ existence of dry land 
where it formerly was not, they give authentic facts, 
from which, however, they deduce false conclusions. 
It is true that certain spots heretofore covered with 
water now form a portion of the continent, but 
the contrary is also the case, and any one who 
studiously examines the facts would find that the 
sea had invaded and submerged several parts. Such 
appears to be the explanation of Deucalion's flood, 
the ravages of which were more especially felt in 
Greece, and which among other provinces was most 
terribly felt in ancient Helas, a country extending 
from Do lona to the Achelous. This river then 
changed its course several times. The province was 
at that time inhabited by the Selles, and by the 
people nanjed Greeks, now called Hellenes." 

Certain coasts of the same sea will, in the same 
time, show but little variation. The Strait of 
Messina, moi"e especially on the Sicilian side, re- 
ceives quantities of sand; but it has relatively suffered 
such slight changes, that the same race have in- 
habited it since the time of Homer. In reading the 
descriptions given of this place by Homer, Polybius, 

X 



306 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

aud Spallanzani, it is surprising to find that autliors 
living in times so far apart give similar details 
respecting the inhabitants in this arm of the sea.* 
Now we have seen that marine animals sometimes 
emigrate, and leave their haunts to otlier species, if 
the depth changes notably. Swordiish are now still 
caught in the manner described by Polybius. 

Sometimes the movements of the terrestrial crust 
are limited to a very small range of country — some- 
times they embrace a very large extent. They are 
nearly always compensated by inverse movements, 
produced at more or less distant points. The gradual 

* Polybius wrote, two thousand years ago : " The swordfish, sea- 
dogs, and other cetaceous animals, become singularly fat every year 
by living on the tunny-fish, which visit the coast of Italy in shoals^ 
and which their enemies watch for iii the straits. In fishing two 
men are attached to each boat — one sculling, and the other standing 
at the prow armed with a spear. The various boats have a common 
scout, in an elevated situation, who signalises the approach of the 
swordfish, for the fish swims with half his body out of tlie water. 
When it approaches the boat the spearman strikes it with his spear, 
the licad of which carries a barb, loosely fixed, so that it can be easily 
detached whtn the spearman withdraws the handle. To tlie iron 
head of the lance is fastened a long cord, which is let out to the 
wounded fish, until by his continued struggles to escape he shall 
have lost all his strength. Then they haul it ashore, or, if not, 
take it on board their boat. If the spear-handle fall into the sea, it 
is not necessarily lost ; it is made of oak and spruce, in such a 
manner that the oak sinking on account of its greater weight 
permits the spruce to project above the surface of the water, so that 
the fisherman may easily see and regain it. Sometimes it happens 
t at the rower id wounded, the swortlfish being armed with a long 
sword, and being as furio-.is and impe'.uous as a boar." 



FUTURE OF THE EARTU. 307 

cooling of our planet causes tlie thin crust already 
formed, by unequal contraction, to pucker up. The 
sea occupies the cavities — the prominences alone 
appear above the waters. 

Water tends to combine more and more with the 
rocks. A time will probably come when the earth 
will be too cold for water to exist in the liquid state. 
It is to be understood, in fact, that the quantity of 
N\ ater whicli bathes our planet continually diminishes ; 
but this diminution is so slow, that thousands of 
years are not sufficient to make it evident. 



808 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



SUDDEN MOVEMENTS OF THE SUBMARINE SOIL. 



1. Earthquakes modify the Bed of the Ocean — Submarine 
Volcanoes. 

The bottom of the sea, as well as the surface on 
which we live, is subject to modifications by the 
action of earthquakes. They are, generally, accom- 
panied by submarine volcanoes, which also alter the 
sea-berl, and cause a displacement of the waters. It 
is observable, in fact, that volcanoes never display 
their whole enerofv except in the neighbourhood of 
seas or large sheets of water. The existence of sub- 
marine volcanoes need not then excite astonishment ; 
it is probable, indeed, that their number is very 
great, and it is reasonable to attribute to the action 
of submariDO eruptions of which we have no know- 
ledge, the seismical phenomena that have been ac- 
companied by no visible volcanic disturbances. 

At the commencement of its activity, subma- 
rine volcanic action is sometimes signalised by a 
peculiar agiiaticn of tbe sea, where the depth is at 



>J>' LBMARINE VO L CANOES. 



U'J 



all considerable. It" the depth be sliglit, or the 
activity of the volcano very great, the water bubbles ; 
a column of smoke rises above the level of the 
sea ; flames, scoriae, or incandescent stones demon- 
strate the presence of a volcano. The sea changes 
colour to a greater or less extent, and becomes Avarm. 
Ships receive a shock as if they had struck a rock ; 
indeed, in some cases the concussion is so violent 
that vessels have lost their masts. 

Volcanic products of every kind, liowevor, ac- 
cumulate at the bottom of the sea, covering every 




F«?-^f 



Fig, 60. — Eruption of a Submarine Volcano. 

living thing ; streams of lava, masses of scoriae, and 
roclcs, contribute to an elevation of the soil Avhich 
must eventually raise it to the light of day. Such 
is often the origin of volcanic islands. 

Submarine earthquakes disturb the sea through- 
out its whole depth, causing the terrible waves of 



310 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

which we liave spoken in a previous chapter. Tlic 
facts we are about to relate will exhilut the great 
influence exerted by subterranean fires over the sub- 
marine regions o'the who'e globe. 

2. Greek Archipelago — Delos and Rhodes upheaved from th"^ 
Bottom of the Sea — Successive additions to the Archipelago of 
Sautorin. 

The existence of submarine volcanoes has long 
been known. Several are to be found in. Greece. 
The islands which have appeared from time to time, 
as if by encliantment, have owed their birth to vol- 
canic causes. Ancient writers niake mention of 
certain phenomena of this kind ; but their state- 
ments, being founded for the most part on inexact 
information, or on more or less uncertain traditions, 
can be of little utility from a scientific or even his- 
torical point of view. 

"The celebrated islands of Delos and Khodes," 
says Pliny (Liv. II. chaps, xviii. and xix.), " have, 
from all accounts, risen from the waters : moreover, 
smaller ones have been seen to appear — such as 
Anapte, beyond Melos; Nea, or Nova Insula, be- 
tween Lemnos and the Hellespont ; Alone, between 
Lesbos and Theos; Thera and Therasia, amongst 
the Cyclades, in the fourth year of the 135th Olym- 
piad ; Hiera, or Automate, situated bet\veen th.e two 



NEW ISLAXns FORM EI). :M1 

p^ece(ling■, and formed loO years subsequently. In 
our time, 110 years later tJian the above, during the 
consulate of M. Julius Silaiins and L. Balbus (year 
19 A.D.) appeared Thia." 

Many other ancient authors — amoni^ the rest 
Justin, Cassiodorus, Dion Cassius, Plutarch, Seneca, 
and Strabo — give very circumstantial details of the 
successive birth and growth of some of these islands 
by their elevation out of the sea. But the oiigin 
of some of them is surrounded with purely fabu- 
lous circumstances, and we are obliged to reject 
nearly all the ancient narrative:^ as being but little 
worthy of belief. Volcanic phenomena were not 
seriously studied, or even carefully observeil, until 
modern times. 

One of the most celebrated islands of the Grecian 
Archipelago is Tliera, subsequently named Sante- 
Irene, and later, Santorin.* Half a league from this 
island now exists Apronysi, the ancient Therasia. It 
appeared for the first time in 236 B.C. (the fourth year 
of the 135th Olympiad, according to Pliny, cited 
above). Automate appeared 130 years after (106 B.C.), 
and was named Hiera in consequence of the worship 



* Santorin is an immense craterifonu mountain, some thirty-six 
miles in circumference. It may be accurately described ns a furn ;ce 
of incessant volcanic activity, some part of it being almost con- 
stantly in eruption. — Tr. 



312 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

of Vulcan there e>!tablished. Thia (4 B.C.) rose at 
the distance of about oOO yards from Hiera. The 
details given by the ancient geographers, therefore, 
agree with each other. 

Violent eruptions of cinders,' rocks, and lava, in a 
state of ignition, filled the arm of the sea which 
separated Thia from Hiera in the year 726 of our 
era. 

Similar phenomena occurred in 1427, as is at- 
tested by a marble monument erected in Santorin, 
near Fort Scauro. A new island, designated Nea- 
Kameni {New Burnt-island), appeared in 1570, at 
the termination of a sixth eruption. Hiera was 
then called Paloe-Kameni, which signifies Old Burnt- 
island. 

We owe to Father Kircher the details of an eruption 
which, in 1650, threw these coasts into trouble during 
a whole year. It was accompanied by showers 
of cinders and whirlwinds of flame, which were seen 
to issue from the sea. The quantity of cinders 
thrown out was so considerable, that ^Smyrna and 
Constantinople w^ere much inconvenienced. 

A new island was thrown up in 1707. Mens. J. 
Girardin describes this phenomenon in the following 
words : " On the 23rd of May, 1707, at sunrise, a 
floating rock was seen at sea about a league from the 
shore of Santorin. Some sailors took it for a ship 



NEW ISLAND NEAR SANTORIN. 313 

about to break up, aud approaclied it with a vie\A to 
pillage. Arrived near, and seeing what it was, they 
had the courage to descend ; they brought back 
some pumice-stone and a few oysters whicli were at- 
taclied to it. The rock was probably a large mass of 
pumice, that the agitation of the earth, which occurred 
a little time prcA'iously, had detached from the 
bottom of the sea. After a few days it became fixed, 
and thus formed a little island, which auomented 
in size from day to day. On the ]4th of June it 
was some 800 yards in circumference, and about 
twenty-four feet in height ; in shape it was roundish, 
and formed of a white light earth. At this period 
the sea began to be disturbed, and the heat near the 
island was so great as to prevent access to it ; a 
strong odour of sulphur also spread around. On the 
lO'th of July there appeared in close proximity to it 
seventeen or eighteen black rocks ; on the 18th, a 
dense smoke was emitted by it for the first time, and 
subterranean rumblings were heard. On the 19th, 
fire began to be visible, and its intensity gradually 
augmented. At night-time the island had the ap- 
pearance of a number of furnaces vomiting flames. 
Its volume increased, and the iumes became insup- 
portable at Santorin. The sea was now violently 
agitated, an 1 dead fish were thrown on the shore ; 
the subterranean noises resembled discliarges of 



314 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

artillery ; the fire made new openings, w hence issued 
showers of ignited cinders and stones, which some- 
times fell at a distance of two leagues. This state of 
things lasted a whole year. In 1767, a new eruption 
took place between Nea-Kameni and Paloe-Kameni ; 
it recommenced in the month of June, and after 
working ten or twelve days, a new island rose up in 
the neighbourhood of Nea-Kameni. During four 
months, a series of terrible phenomena occurred ; 
considerable portions of the island were swallowed up, 
but others were formed ; at last a second island ap- 
peared, and it united with the first in June. It was 
named the Black Island, on account of the colour of 
its soil. The subterranean disturbance continued 
until the end of the following year; and on the 15th 
of April, there occurred an eruption of large ignited 
stones, which fell two miles off." 

The eruptions and upheavings from the bottom of 
the sea continued long after. The Aeademie des 
Sciences sent M. Fouqud to study on the spot the 
manner in which this remarkable archipelago became 
developed. M. Fouque perfectly distinguished the two 
processes simultaneously working towards the produc- 
tion of new lands — the raising of the ground, and the 
increase of the raised spots by the deposit of lava, scoriae, 
and rocks, which were cast out from the boiling cavern. 

The bottom of the sea is, as we have seen, gei:erally 



THE AZORES VOLCAS IC. 815 

colder than the surface, If, therefore, rocks situated 
at a great depth are brought rapidly to the surface, 
they will not have time to acquire warmth in rising, 
and will therefore cool the surrounding waters to a 
certain distance. The lava and stones tlirown out by 
the volcano will, on the contrary, heat the water 
sometimes almost to boiling. 

The elevation of the island of Julia, to the west 
of Sicily, was accompanied by phenomena similar to 
the above. 

3. The Azores — Appearance and Disappearance of Islands subse- 
quent to Earthquakes — The ephemeral Island Sabrina. 

The Azores are entirely volcanic, and we there find 
the same remarkable phenomena occurring that we 
have alreafly noticed in the Grecian Archipelago. 

Evidence of the existence of a submarine volcano, 
near St. Michael, was given by four eruptions in less 
than 200 years. One of them began on the 11th of 
June, 1638, during an earthquake. Flames and 
smoke were thrown out by the agitated sea near St. 
Michael ; earth and rocks were projected to a great 
height, and, again falling into the sea, at last ac- 
cumulated sufficiently to form an island ten kilo- 
metres in extent, and nearly 400 feet high. Like 
Julia, the island soon disappeared. 

Another earthquake occurred suddenly on the 31st 



316 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

of December, 1719, and an island was formed between 
Terceira and St. Michael. At first it was of sufficient 
elevation to be seen seven or eight leagues out at sea ; 




Fig. 61. — Submarine Eruption at the Azores. 

it vomited incessantly a thick column of smoke, cin- 
ders, and pumice ; a stream of molten lava flowed 
down its sides, and the sea became very hot in its 
neighbourhood. The height of the island diminished 
rapidly ; after existing two years, in 1 722 it had 



THE NEW li^LAXD SABl^iyA. 317 

sunk to the level of the sea. It (Hsappeared on the 
17th of November, 1623. 

Violent earthquakes disturbed the neighbourliood 
of St. Michael during the months of July and 
August, 1810. Shortly after (January 31st, 1811) 
the earth split on the eastern side of the island, 
near the village of Ginetas, a league and a half from 
the seashore. While the sea boiled violently, an 
enormous quantity of water and smoke, mixed with 
earth and cindeis, was tlirown into the air. Stones 
were thrown to a height of 2000 feet. The eruption 
lasted eight days ; a' bank of pumice was then visible, 
against which the waves dashed on a spot where the 
water was previously not much less than 500 feet deep. 

An island one or two kilometres in circumference, 
and about 300 feet in height, was the result of a 
new submarine eruption on the 15th of June in the 
same year. Captain Tillard, commanding the Sabrina, 
visited and took possession of it in the name of the 
English Government. He gave it the name of his 
vessel. Little by little the island sank, and towards 
the end of February, 1822, a little vapour, floating 
over the surface of the sea, was the only remaining 
trace of its existence. 

Porto de Itheo, a vast hollow ci-ater in which ships 
found a resting-place, as well as the island of Corvo, 
are of similar origin. 



318 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

During a great eartliquake which, in 1757, de 
stroyed one-seventh (1500 persons) of the population 
of the island of St. George, eighteen islets sud- 
denly appeared about 600 yards from the shore. 
Their fate was similar to that of Sabrina. 

4. Submarine Volcano in the Middle of the Atlantic. 

One of the most remarkable of submarine vol- 
canoes exists in the mi Idle of the Atlantic Ocean. 
M. Daussy had already pointed out a region, situated 
about 24° 42' W. longitude and 0° 50' S. latitude, as 
interesting on account of volcanic phenomena. We 
reproduce a list given by M. Yezian of incidents 
observed on this spot, since the middle of the last 
century, by a large number of sailors : — 

1747. The ship Prince, bound for the Indies ; two shocks, as 
though the vessel had touched ground. 

1754. The ship Silhouette ; extraordinary shock. 

1758. Le Fidele ; shock. 

1761. Le Vaillant ; an island of sand observed. 

1771. The frigate Facifique; very violent shock, sea much agi- 
tated. 

1806. M. de Krusenstern saw a volume of smoke rising, twice 
repeated, to a great height. 

1816. The Triton ; a rock tiiree miles long and one mile wide, 26 
fathoms of water ; bottom, brown sand. 

1831. L'Aigle; calm sea, shock, rumbling sound beneath the 
water. 

1832. La Seine; shocks. 

1835. Ija Couronne ; scraped tlie bottom with her keel ; sounded 
afterward-, 35 fathoms. 



V()LCA\(J JN TUI-: ATLASTIC. S19 

183G. Le Philanthrope ; shocks which Instcd three iniimtLs, and 
which were also felt two miles olT by another vessel 

18HG. Some voleanic einders, collected near this i)oiut whilst ti.e 
earth was in violent agitat on, were forwarded to Calcutta. 

1856. Regiiia Cadi; rumbling sound as of a distant ^torm ; after- 
wards severe shocks, accomi)aided by a noise similar to that produceil 
by striking several sheets of metal together. The helmsman was 
incapable of luanagiug the tiller, which was dragged from his 
hands. 

1856. On the tame day and at the same hour — i.e., on the 30th of 
December, at 4 o'clock in the morning — the ship Godavery rvceived 
a severe shock at a slight distance from the Rerjina Cadi. 

1861. February 20. Submarine earthquake felt on board the 
Felicie, which lasted a minute, and was preceded by a noise coming 
from the westward. 



5. Submarine Eruptions near Kamtschatka — Iceland — Ignited Sea ; 
appearance of an Island near Reikianess— Kise of a Fiery Island 
I'rom the Ocean, near the Aleutian Isles. 

Occurrences similar to the above have often been 
observed near Kamtschatka, and in the latitudes of 
Hussian America. For example, an eruption occurred 
on the 10th of May, 1814, when an island rose above 
the water, vomiting bitumen through many fissures. 

Captain Kotzebue was eyewitness to the birth of 
f*n island near Ounimack, in tlie Aleutian Archi- 
pelago. An account of the circumstances will be 
found in the narrative of his voyage. 

On the 7th of May, 1796, M. Krinckhoif, agent of 
the Russian American Company, was at the north- 
west point of Ounimack ; a tempest, which blew from 



320 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

the iiortii-west quarter, prevented him from seeing 
anything out at sea. On the 8th, the weather 
cleared, when he observed, at some miles from the 
shore, a column of smoke or mist rising from the sea, 
and as evening approached he saw something black 
upheaved above the smoke. During tlie night lire 




Fig. 62. — Rise of a new Island near Ouuimack. 

was emitted at the same place, and with such intensity, 
that at a distance of ten miles objects were perfectly 
distinguishable. Then a trembling of the earth, ac- 
companied by a frightful noise, which was echoed 



ICELASD. 821 

from the mountains of the south, sliook tlie entire 
soil. Tlie nascent island belelied forth stones, wliieh 
fell even upon Ounimack. The earthquake ceas<'rl 
at sunrise, the fire diminished, and the new island 
appeared plainly visible, conical in sliape, and of a 
black colour. 

A month later, M. Krinckhoff saw it again. The 
island was higher than before, and during all this 
time it had not ceased to vomit fire. Aiterwards it 
appeared to increase in circumference and height, 
but the fire continued to diminish. Generally it 
emitted only vapour and smoke, and at the end of 
four years this phenomenon ceased also. When, about 
eight years subsequently, the island was visited by a 
company of trappers, the surrounding water was 
found to be of a very high temperature, and the soil 
so hot in many places that it was impossible to 
walk on it. Its circumference, which had gone on 
augmenting, was estimated at about two-and-a-half 
miles, and its height at about 350 feet. The bottom 
of the sea was strewn with stones even to a distance 
of three miles. The hottest part of the soil was from 
about the middle of the height to the summit, and 
the vapour which ascended from the crater was 
found to be of an agreeable odour. 

Iceland is a very furnace of volcanic activity, and 
we observe in its nf^ighbourhood phenomena of el eva- 

y 



322 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

tion analagoiis to the instances we have already cited 
Mackenzie relates that, in the year 1780, he obsers^ed 
on the western coast of the island, at the distance of 
ten leagues from Keikianess, flames rising from the 
sea daring many months. Afterwards a little island 
made its appearance. For some time this island 
vomited flames and stones, and then disappeared 
again. Immediately afterwards the Skaptaa lokull, 
a neighbouring volcano, broke out in eruption. 



6. The Bottom of tlie Sea feels the counterblow of teiTestrial 
Volcanic Phenomena. 

Terrestrial volcanoes and earthquakes are nearly 
always re-echoed, so to speak, from the bottom of the 
sea. Ships experience a shock as if they had passed 
over a centre of volcanic activity. 

Cracatoa, an island in the Indian Ocean, was de- 
stroyed in 1680 by an earthquake. Vessels at sea 
felt the shock. 

Gounung-Api, or Gounapi, a volcano in the Mo- 
lucca group of islands, burst into eruption on the 22nd 
of November, 1694. Its summit vomited flames witli 
a great noise. The bottom of the sea was, at the 
same time, heaved up to the level of the soil of the 
island, and flames ascended from the waters. 

In 1820, in a bay situated to the west of Gounapi, 



ERUPTION OF TOMUUIIO. 



323 



and where at other times sixty liitlioms were suiaided, 
a promontory was formed, which increased in extent 
until it filled np the bay. It is composed of gigantic 
blocks of basalt highly calcined. The phenomenon 
was attended with so little noise that the inhabitants 




Fig. 63.— Eruption of Tomboro in 1821. 

of the Banda (or Nutmeg) Islands were unaware of the 
occurrence until it W7\s perfectly accomplished. Tiic 
upheaval was slow, accompanied by an extiaordinaiy 
rise of temperature in the water, which butibled up 
in the I ay. 



a24 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

In the island of Bima, ur Sumbawa, there is a very 
active volcano, named the Tomboro. In 1821 such 
a movement of the sea occurred here, that the island 
was partly submerged, and vessels at anchor in the 
port vvere thrown to a great distance on the shore. 
Many were landed even on the roofs of the houses. 
Tomboro itself remained calm during the time, but a 
voh.'anic mountain to the north-east of it threw up 
stones and cinders in the midst of a torrent of vapours. 
The earthquake was felt in the neighbouring isles, at 
Celebes, aud even at Macassar, where the same de- 
vastation occurred as at Bima. These two places 
are nevertheless separated by an arm of the sea 100 
leaiiues broad. 



7. Products of Submarine Volcanoes — How they differ from the 
products of Subaerial Yoicanoes. 

A very close analogy has beea observed between 
the products of all the volcanoes on the earth's sur- 
face. Submarine volcanoes are no exception to the 
general rule. One and the same cause produces all 
these phenomena. The nature of the medium into 
which they eject their gas and igneous matter can 
alone occasion any difference in the character of the 
eruption. 

Suijinarine lava-streams may be expected to cover 



SUBMARINE LAVA. 82.5 

a grvai extent, oi" the ocetiu-bed, according to the 
o})inion of Mr. Poulett Scrope, wlio has expressed him- 
self to the lollowing effect in his work on " Geology 
and the Extinct Volcanoes of Central France." " We 
ought to observe," he says, " that lava-streams at the 
bottom of the sea must have a greater breadth, com- 
pared with their thickness, than those which are cooled 
under atmospheric pressure, and that this lateral ex- 
tension is proportioned to the depth of the water." 

It ought also to be observed that lava-streams 
which have cooled at great depths under the water 
present little scoriae. This, in fact, has been observed 
in the old volcanic rocks of submarine origin. This, 
however, may be caused by the influence of ocean- 
currents, or other movements of the water." 

Some knowledge of the peculiar action of submarine 
volcanoes might be acquired by investigating their 
products, which may be brought to light by the sub- 
sequent elevation of the ocean-bed above the level of 
the sea. Examples of this are frequent in the coral 
isles of the Pacific. The basaltic columns of the south 
and north coasts of Ireland, of the Faroe Isles, of the 
north-east of Teneriffe, and numerous other localities, 
tend to demonstrate that the phenomena displayed 
by lava, when it is ejected beneath the sea, are very 
nearly similar to what occurs on the solid earth. I'he 
princijujl differences seeni to be: 



326 THbJ BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

1. That the lava cools moi'e imiformly, and exteiiJs 
lurther upon a plane surface. 

2. That a submaiine volcano ejects a less quantity 
of conglomerate, or of fragmentary matter, than a 
subaerial one, or that its igneous product extends 
further, and stratifies in thinner sheets of con- 
temporary lava, than is the case with tlmt of other 
volcanoes. 

Jf these opinions be correct, the regions where 
we find immense formations, sometimes slightly in- 
clined, of traprock and basalt, to which some coun- 
tries are indebted for their picturesque aspect, have 
been at some distant period submerged, and exposed 
to the action of a submarine volcano, which has 
covered them with its products. 

In such cases, when the volcano is in repose, 
it is obvious that submarine deposits of every kind 
— including animals and plants, if the depth be 
not too great — will be found, superimposed upon 
the lava. Accordingly, when the ocean-bed is 
upheaved to the light of day, we find a sheet of 
basalt between two beds formed of the debris of 
marine animals. 

lu Iceland we find subaerial volcanoes side by 
side with others of submarine origin, the latter 
having been upheaved to the light of day long after 
their activity had ceased. The first are the Jokiils, 



MAiniTius. ?.'n 

high mountains whicli {ibound in the island. 'I'Ik^ 
north and south of Iceland present an aspect tho- 
roughly characteristic of these facts. We there find 
immense phiteaux, whose submarine origin is plainly 
indicated by alternate beds of basalt and basaltic 
conglomerate. 

The Isle of France (Mauritius) has all the cha- 
racters of a submarine volcanic formation, which has 
been elevated en masse subsequently to the cessation 
of the eruptions. Bourbon, the near neighbour of 
Mauritius, presents, on the contrary, the appear- 
ance of the ordinary volcano, formed by the repeated 
coolings of lava-streams flowing from two or three 
sources constantly above the level of the sea, and one 
of which is in incessant activity. 

Allowing, however, that the remarks of Mr. Poulett 
Scrope are well-'bunded, it must be owned that they 
are subject to numerous exceptions. The remark- 
able investigatio;;s of M. S inte-Claire Deville have, 
in fact, demonstrated tliat the nature of volcanic pro- 
ducts vjjries ac< ording to the length of time that the 
volcano has been in activity. It would lead us too 
inY from our special subject to discuss this interesting 
question, but we may indicate in a very few words 
one of the many results obtained by M. Deville. A 
volcano seems to have its period of youth an I its 
pi rio ' of old age. During the first period, lavas are 



.^28 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

ejected; duringthe second, basalts. If a volcano whicii 
vomits lava is in repose, we may always expect a 
new eruption. When, however, the lava is succeeded 
by basalt, we may be equally sure the volcano is on 
the eve of extinction. We must, therefore, be careful 
not to pronounce too absolutely as to the marine 
origin of volcanic products from their nature and 
aspect. 

8. Bottom of the Sea brought to light in consequence of tlie Eruption 
of Submarine Volcanoes. 

If a mountain belching fire is lifted above the 
level of the sea by the action of some subterranean 
fire, it carries with it the marine formations to which 
it had served as a support. The same expansive force 
acting upon a larger scale, and not limiting its effects 
to the elevation of the mountain, will raise to the light 
of day a more extended region of the submarine world, 
with allthelayersof(^e5m, sometimes of very ancient 
formation, which cover it. 

This is what we observe to have happened in 
Mauritius and two neighbouring islands. The con- 
figuration of the northern part of Mauritius is that of 
a level plane, formed of a recent calcareous rock, com- 
posed of polypi analogous to the coral. It covers the 
volcanic rocks whicli elsewhere form the summits of 
the island. The superposition of madrepores and 



coiiAL hi:i:j':^ of the FACIFIC. :^2i> 

(;oials upon volcanic [)r()diicts, is an evident proof 
that their formation was subsequent to the emission 
of the lava upon which they had planted themselves 
when it was sufficiently cool. But polyps live under 
water. The lava therefore, in this instance, must 
have been of submarine origin ; the ocean-bed thus 
formed was long afterwards upheaved to the light of 
day. 

By far the greater part of the surface of a group of 
islands situated a little to the east of Java, is com- 
posed of beds of coral, in all respects similar to those 
which are still in formation, and which constitute 
the well-known dangerous reefs of the Pacific. It 
is obvious that, in this instance also, the coral polypi 
had taken up their abode on the cooled lava, and 
that the whole mass Wiis afterwards elevated alove 
the ocean, as in the case of Mauritius. 

In the island of Pulo Nyas, to the westward of 
Sumatra, beds of coral, similar to those of the neigh- 
bouring seas, have been raised to a height of many 
hundreds of yards. 

In the earthquake w^hich, in 1820, destroyed a 
part of Acapulco (as described in a previous chapter), 
the level of the sea remained during t\vo hours 
about 30 feet below its ordinary level, in conse- 
quence of the land having been raised to that 
extent. On the other hand, we remark a permanent 



330 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

elevation of the shore at Chili, to the extent of two 
or three yards, in consequence of an earthquake 
which destroyed Taliuano in the Bay of Conception. 

It would be possible to multiply, very greatly, 
examples of these upheavals of the submarine soil. 
We have only to recall the frequent formation of new 
islands, alluded to in a previous chapter. 

The sudden changes which actually take place in 
the basins of seas are, in most instances, easy to 
verify. Often they are the cause of terrible catas- 
trophes, which affect whole populations, and leave an 
indelible impression on the memories of those who 
witnessed or suffered by them. 



a^i 



GRADUAT. CHANGES OF THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



1. How the gradual change of the Sea-bottom can be demonstrated 
— Modifications which the Map of Europe would suffer by a 
gradual subsidence of Thirty Feet in a century — Paris sub- 
merged — Europe as it would be were the Level of the Sea raised 
500 feet — Toulouse and Vienna as Seaports. 

We have studied the more sudden shocks to which 
the earth's crust may be subjected. Incessant move- 
ments of a more gradual kind, which to be demon- 
strated must be studied during several generations, 
also influence it, embracing vast regions, and in- 
fluencing equally the bottom of the sea and the 
highest mountains. Under the influence of such 
slow, almost insensible, changes of the eai^th's crust — 
countries, at one time flourishing, have disappeared, 
and others have risen in their stead. 

So long as our study is confined to the sea, or to 
the interior of continents, we may look in vain lor 
evidence of such changes ; but if we visit the shores, 
we may find abundant proof that the ocean is either 
gradually retreating from, or slowly gaining on, the 
land. If the sea be apparently retreating, it is a 



332 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

proof that the land, at that particular spot, is rising. 
If the sea be gaining on the land, we may be assured 
that the soil is sinking. 

On any coast terminated abruptly by a high cliff, 
we may perceive above high water-mark an easily 
distinguishable line. The waves disintegrate the 
rocks. They are aided in their work by animals, 
of which we have spoken on a previous page. The 
pholades and other stone-borers are impelled by 
their instincts to select for their abode the line of 
demarcation between the two elements, where the 
air and water may be said to strive in perpetual con- 
flict. These boring animals cannot lemain con- 
tinually submerged, but the presence of water is in- 
dispensable to their existence. The cliffs against 
which the waves dash are better suited to their 
existence than any other situation. Wherever we 
find that these animals have established their abode, 
there must have been at one time the seashore. If 
the sea gains on the land, the colonies of pholades 
advance higher with the waves ; if the sea retires 
before a rising continent, the pholades follow in its 
retreat. 

Where the waves die away on a beach only 
slightly inclined, a coast-line is formed of rounded 
pebbles and rubbish, across which the waves only 
pass during great storms. This line defines the 



liliSL' AM> FALL OF COAiSTH. 333 

boundaries of the ocean. If tlie land be rising, this 
coast-line will appear to recede from the water, 
while a fresh one will be continually in course of 
formation by the retiring ocean. 

The encroachment or retreat of the sea, easily 
proved in such a case, is much less obvious on a 
rocky or very steep coast. Where the ground is 
nearly horizontal, a slight rise in the level of the sea 
Nv'ill cause the inundation of a great extent of country. 
The encroachment of the sea on an abrupt coast is, 
on the contrary, insensible; and a number of ob- 
servations, often repeated at considerable intervals, 
is necessary to obtain a definite idea of the phe- 
nomena. • 

If to this difficulty in making observations we add 
the complication caused by the ebb-and-flow of the 
tide, we may easily comprehend why so many years 
have been necessary to demonstrate and accurately 
to measure the sinking of the land on the coast of 
Sweden. 

When the earth is thrown up arounl us with a 
great noise, when crevices are produced in an instant, 
and the solid ground trembles and quakes beneath 
our feet, we can have no difficulty in remarking the 
facts. But although, after an earthquake or other 
perturbation of that nature, the country remains 
either raised or lowered several yards, the inhabi- 



334 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

tants of the interior of a continent would not be in 
the least aware of it, nor wogld they be more 
sensible of a slow and continnons rise or fall in the 
level. The seaside inhabitants would, however, 
recognise it by the obvious change in the level of 
the sea — the measure of its apparent rise or fall being 
equal to the actual rise or fall of the soil. 

If Europe, sinking uniformly, laid itself open to 
the invasion of the sea, what would not be the modi- 
fication of its map after a comparatively short time ? 
Suppose the whole continent to sink at the rate of 
some ten yards in a century: at the end of fifty 
centuries, or 5000 years, the level of the sea would 
have risen some 500 yard^ — a result which would 
cause many rich plains and opulent cities to be 
engulfed. Paris, with her lofty monuments and 
her hills, would have disappeared long since ; a forest 
of marine plants would have covered this beautiful 
city, and marine animals would have disported them- 
selves in her streets. The sands and other deposits 
with which the sea covers its bed, as with a vast 
curtain, would soon cover up the present scene of 
such advanced civilisation. Paris would disappear 
l)eneath the sea, as Nineveh beneath the sands of the 
desert. 

But the change in the level of the sea need 
not be so great for the map of Europe to become 



EUROPE SUBMERGED. 337 

unrecog^nisable. The map at the commencement of 
this cliapter represents the appearance which would 
be presented by Europe, supposing the level of the sea 
were to rise some 500 feet. Its land-connection with 
the Asiatic continent would then be broken ; it would 
become an archipelago traversed b}^ large arms of 
the sea. The valleys of the Vistula and the Dnieper 
would become vast sheets of water. An imuKiise 
gulf would flow up the ancient valley of the Danube ; 
a narrow channel would separate it from an interior 
sea corresponding to a large part of Hungary. Den- 
mark, the low-lying plains of Germany and of the 
Netherlands, would be replaced by the ocean. 
England and France would be very much cut up. 
In the latter would be found three large gulfs, corre- 
sponding to the pr. sent courses of the Seine, the Loire, 
and the Garonne ; fishing boats m ould anchor over 
Bordeaux and Orleans, and make land at Toulouse. 
A narrow isthmus would unite France with Spain 
in the neighbourhood of Castelnaudary, and the rich 
wine-growing countries of central France would 
become transformed into submarine prairies. 

The plain of the Po and the valley of the Ebio 
would make way for deep gulfs ; though, in general, 
the northern shores of the Mediterranean would 
suffer but little change. This would not be the case 
with the low plains which constitute Egypt and Cyre- 

z 



338 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

uaica. They would become one vast sea, bounded by 
the mountains of Algeria, Morocco, and Abyssinia. 

The climate of this part of the world would in conse- 
quence be much changed. Immense sheets of water 
would cover the saline steppes of Kussia ; they would 
extend into Turkestan, as far as the Siberian mountains 
and the table-land of Gobi ; to the south they would 
invade the larger part of the African desert. The 
remains of Europe would have a very humid climate, 
for whilst at present the western winds alone bring 
us wet, all the winds would then be of oceanic origin. 

We can hardly go further into the discussion of the 
modifications which would result from such an altered 
state of things ; our only business is to point to the 
important part which the conquest of the sea plays-in 
the general economy of nature. 



2. Ancient limits of the Black Sea— Drying-up of the Kussian 

Steppes. 

Such changes do not entirely belong to fiction. 
The works of Tournefort, Chandler, and Tott, those 
of Count Potocki, of Prince Gallitzin, and of Pallas, 
unite with those of the ancients to prove that the 
northern coasts of the Black Sea have changed very 
much ; and that between this sea, the Caspian, and 
Lake Aral, traces are to be everywhere found of the 



AN ANCIENT SEA. 339 

former presence of the sea. Pallas (vol. x.) thinks 
that the salt lakes of the steppes of Russia and Tar- 
tary are ancient gulfs, the mouths of which have 
been choked up with sanrl, and which have subse- 
quently been considerably reduced by evaporation. 

Originally, says Dureau de la Malle, the Mediter- 
iiinean was a lake of small extent, fed by the Nile, the 
Rhone, the Po, and many other less considerable rivers. 
The ocean, making an irruption into it, inundated 
a part of the low sandy coasts of Spain, of Barbary, 
and the plains of Provence and Languedoc, and 
of course flooded the coasts of Egypt and Asia Minor, 
where it has penetrated to the foot of the mountains 
and hills. 

After that period the Mediterranean, losing much 
more by evaporation than it gained from its rivers 
and the Straits of Gibraltar, then very narrow, gra- 
dually contracted. But it was enlarged again, when, 
owing to the volcanic eruption of the Cyaaei Scopuli, 
the channel of the Bosphorus, and the plains in 
its neighbourhood, had opened a passage to the 
Euxine, the Caspian, and the Lake of Aral, and 
they were united in one sea, at least as large as 
the present Mediterranean. All the low plains of 
recent formation were covered with water afresh ; 
but the sea again retired until an equilibrium was 
established, and it lost by evaporation what it 



340 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

gained by the influx of water. It has since pre- 
served nearly its present form, the only material 
changes being on the low-lying coasts and about the 
mouths of the great rivers. 



3. Movements of the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere — Subsid- 
ence in the North of Europe and of America — Elevation of the 
Polar Kegions — Sinking of the Coast of Sweden. 

Certain portions c-i the eartli's surface sink ; others 
rise, apparently perhaps without obeying any general 
law, but not really so. Everything goes to prove that in 
our hemisphere the continental mass is being elevated. 
A concave bend may be traced from the south of the 
Baltic to the Atlantic, passing by Denmark, the 
North Sea, and the Low Countries. Prolonged 
through the Channel, it is probably continued under 
the ocean, where, however, we cannot follow it ; but 
it is demonstrable again to the north-east of North 
America, and at Grreenland. On the inner side of 
this bend, which marks a zone of subsidence, the bed 
of the former oc^ean is in process of elevation. 

The line of subsidence cannot be followed to the 
east beyond the Baltic, for reasons we have already 
mentioned ; but it certainly should not stop where 
we can no longer demonstrate the phenomena. In 
the neighbourhood of Sweden, where the oscillating 



SEESAW MOVEMENT. 341 

motion of the soil is from east to west, the appearance 
of the phenomenon is that of a seesaw movement : 
the north rises and the south subsides. 

New islands have appeared in the Gulfs of Bothnia 
and Finland :* if this should continue for two thousand 
years, the Gulf of Tornea will become a lake, like those 
which occupy the depressions in the granite all over 
Finland ; and eighteen hundred years later, Stock- 
holm will be united to this province by the Isles of 
Aland, transformod into an isthmus. 

Sir Roderick Murchison first noticed, in 1845, the 
existence of a line, aiound which the surface of 
Scandinavia appeared to turn ; but the honour of 
first demonstrating the movements of the land in 
Sweden belongs to the Swedish naturalist, Celsius, 
who lived at the commencement of the last century. 
He published his opinion that the level of the Baltic 
and of the North Sea gradually fell ; and the result 
of a large number of observatioo^ was to settle the 
amount of this subsidence at about one yard in a 
century. The rocks on the borders of the Baltic 
and the ocean, which had formerly been the hidden 
cause of much disaster to vessels, showed in his time 
above the level of the water. The fact that terra 
firma gained continually on the waters of the Gulf of 
r>othnia, was proved by the existence of many ancient 

■* See *' Les Oscillations de I'^corce terrestre," by M. Hebert. 



342 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

ports at a distance from the coast, by the abandon- 
ment of fisheries dried up or converted into shallows, 
and the conversion of islands into continuous land. 

The facts stated by Celsius were exacts but his ex- 
planations were erroneous. In 1802, Playfair assigned 
their true cause by attributing the observed changes 
to the movement of the land. 

His opinion was confirmed, in 1807, by Leopold de 
Buch, who discovered, when he was travelling in Scan- 
dinavia, the gradual elevation of the whole country 
between Fredericksiiall (Norway) and St. Peters- 
burg. He thought, without being certain, that 
Sweden rose more than Norway, and that the effects 
were more rapid in the north than in the south. 

At the commencement of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, lines had been cut in the rocks to indicate 
the ordinary level of the sea in calm weather. These 
data were examined, in 1820 and 1821, by the officers 
charged with the pilotage, and new lines were cut. 
During this interval of time the level of the Baltic 
had sunk, but not everywhere equally during equal 
times. 

Nilson declared, in 1837, that Scania, the most 
southern province of Sweden, seemed to have sunk 
(luring several centuries. This Swedish savan at the 
same time cited a number of facts in support of his 
novel statement. A large stone near Talbourg, the 



SEESA W MO \ EMENT. 343 

distance of which from tlie sea had been measured 
by Linnaeus, in 1749, was more than 30 yards nearer 
the shore in 1837. Certain maritime towns were 
being constantly invaded by the sea, the level of some 
of the streets being below that of the lowest tides. 

An entire province, heretofore called Witlanda, and 
situated between Pillau, Brandenburg, and Bolga, 
at the period when the Teutonic Order flourished, is 
now completely submerged. Moreover, the soil of 
Denmark, of Norway, an 1 of Sweden contains de- 
posits of shell entirely similar to thoise which are 
formed at the bottom of the neighbouring seas. The 
soil of Scania contains none. Therefore, at no very 
remote period, Denmark, and certain parts of Norway 
and Sweden, were submerged ; but not so Scania. 
The first-named countries are now, on the contrary, 
raised above the waters, and man establishes himself 
in them; Scania sinks, and Witlanda has already 
disappeare I. 

Such are the observations which have enabled the 
celebrated geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison, to 
conclude, in a general manner, that the actual 
motion of the Swedish soil, and of the bed of the 
Baltic, resembles that of a seesaw, the fixed line or 
axis of which would pass to the north of Scania. 
The south falls, the north rises. 



m THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 



i. Elevation of Spitzbergen — Sinking of the Western Coast, r-nd 
Elevation of the Eastern Coast of Greenland— Gradual Submer 
sion of the Forests of Labrador and of Nova Scotia — Eomaii 
Constructions engulfed in the Low Countries — Origin of the 
Zuyder Zee — Failure of the Dutch Sea-dams— The Valley of 
the Somme and the Coasts of Normandy follow the movement 
of subsidence of the Low Countries, 

Spitzbergeii is g*»ing through a phase of elevation. 
Ancient coasts are now about 50 feet above the 
level of the sea. Siberia follows the same move- 
ment. Timbers floated au'l thrown on to the coast 
by the waves, are now in the interior, at a dis- 
tance of 40 or 50 kilometres from the shore. An 
ancient islan 1, still separated from the continent in 
1760, was connected with the mainland in 1820. 

The line of subsidence, of which we have spoken 
above, passes to the south of the British Isles, the 
northern portion of which (Scotland) has been 
elevated some 25 feet since the Roman period. 
It commences to the north-west, between Greenland 
and Iceland. The ruins of ancient monuments 
may still be seen beneath the water. A Danish 
naturalist, Dr. Singel, has proved that during the 
last four centuries, the sea has encroached on the 
land over a length of more than 900 kilometres 
from north to south — a circumstance which had made 
it necessary to remove, repeatedly, some factories 



COASTS OF GUEI:NLASD. 845 

which liad been established on the slior(», and sub- 
sequently invaded by the water. 

The submerged forests in Fundy Bay, Nova 
Scotia, the subsidences at other points on the coasts 
of Labrador and Upper Canada, show that Davis 
Straits and the north-east of America are in the 
same liiie of motion as Greenland. 

Several very flourishing Danish missions existed 
in Greenland in the ninth century, as is proved by 
papal bulls. These coasts, now unapproachable on 
account of the ice, which entirely shuts them in, 
possesse 1 at that time an active and industrious 
population. Two towns, one cathedral, eleven 
churches, and three or four monasteries, show the 
prosperity of these colonies in the middle ages. 
The channel which separated Greenland from Ice- 
land was frozen over during the winter, but each 
year the passage had been free in the warm season,- 
and a Danish fleet carried supplies to the colonists, 
in exchange for the products of the chase and the 
fisheries. 

In 1408 the ice did not break up. Subsequent y, 
communication being interrupted, and the colonists 
separated froiu the mother-country, they were either 
massacred by the Esquimaux, or perished of cold 
and hunger. These coasts have since become still 
colder, and glaciers have covered the ruins of the 



346 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Danish settlements. The cause of this cooling is, 
very probably, a general elevation of the whole 
eastern coast, whilst the western coast has subsided." 
The elevation has had a double effect: it has 
(-Hminished the temperature while increasing the 
altitude of the country ; it has compelled the warm 
waters of the Gulf Stream to flow more to the east— a 
result which has contributed enormously to diminish 
the temperature of the country. We shall not b i 
astonished at this, if we consider the enormous 
influence exercised on climate by marine currents. 

The Netherlands, as M. Elie de Beaumont has 
shown, are subsiding gradually. Roman construc- 
tions may there be seen surrounded by water, 
having long since been passed by the coast-line. 
Peat-beds, at one time important, have been buried 
beneath the sea during the historic period. As the 
oceanic waters, filtering through a porous soil, con- 
tinued to rise, the Lakes of Haarlem were gradually 
enlarged, until at the end of the seventeenth century 
they united to form an inland sea. 

It is all in vain that men have attempted to raise 
powerful dams against the encroachment of the sea. 
The dams sink slowly with the soil on which they 
rest, and there is no doubt that, in a more or less 
distant future, the barrier which they oppose will be 
insufficient to protect the low-lying plains of Holland. 



SINKING OF THE CHANNEL. 847 

The valley of the Somine and the coasts of Nor- 
nuiudy are also gradually sinkino-. Already the turf- 
pits of the valley of the Somme are below the level 
of the sea. Submerged forests, whose disappearance 
beneath the waters is proved by positive dor-u- 
nientary evidence, exist off the coasts of Normandy. 
The same may be said of the opposite English coasts. 
The whole of the Channel is sinking. The Straits 
of Dover, which would 1 ecome dry land by a slight 
elevation of the soil, are therefore but little likely 
to serve as a means of communication between 
France and the British Isles. There are two reasons 
to convince us that it must enlarge : first, in con- 
sequence of the action of the sea on its shores ; and, 
secondly, on account of the subsidence of the sur- 
rounding countries. 



5. Two extensive Zones of Subsidence in the Southern Hemisphere 
— They are separated by a Zone of Elevation — The Fiji Islands 
have been sinking during 300,000 years. 

Two vast regions are subsiding in the southern 
hemisphere. One of them comprehends the nume- 
rous oceanic archipelagos — the Bass Islands, the 
Society Isles, the Carolinas, Gilbert's Archipelago, 
Marshall's Archipelago, and others. Its length is 
more than 8000 miles, and its mean breadth 



348 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

more thau 1200 miles. Each year has furnished^ 
and still furnishes, proofs of the disappearan(!e or 
diminished size of islands in this immense zone. 

It has been seen in a preceding chapter how the 
incessant labours of the coral insects compensate for 
the sinking of the soil, and how the rapidity of the 
growth of the coral reefs furnishes a measure of the 
rate of subsidence. The size of the reefs also indi- 
cates the epochs sinr-e wliich the movement of the 
soil has continued, Tlie annual growth in height of 
the polypiers is 0"'*00o. Now certain reefs are several 
hundred yards in depth. Those of the Fiji Islands, 
for example, are about 1000 yards, those of the 
Gambler Islands about 400, and tliose of Tahiti about 
80 yards. If the growth of those reefs has always 
been at the same rate, 300,000 years have been neces- 
sary for the production of the reefs of the Fiji Islands. 

The coral insects grow only near the surface of 
the water : they have therefore sunk 1000 yards at 
the Fiji Islands since they first commenced their 
work, and that has been during a period of 300,000 
years. 

The second region of subsidence comprehends New 
Caledonia, Australia, and the basin of the Indian 
Ocean, includino- the atolls^ of the Chasfos Bank and 

* An aioll is a circular wall or reef of coral enclosing the sea, 
within which it resembles a ^lnall lake. — Tr. 



SUBSIDENCE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. 349 

the Maldives. The polypiers there play a very im- 
portant part. 

Between these two zones there extends a vast zone 
of elevation. It is formed by a semicircle of vol- 
canic islands : New Zealand, the Kermandec Islands, 
tlie Friendly Islands, New Hebrides, the Solomon 
Islands, and New Guinea. Tliis volcanic line bifur- 
cates. One of the branches passes by the Philip- 
pines, Formosa, and Kamtschatka. Its direction is 
therefore first east and afterwards south-east. It 
passes the Sandwich Islands, and runs parallel with 
the western side of the Andes for about 2500 
miles. The other branch, tending westward, passes 
Timor, Java, and Sumatra. The rising is very 
evident on the coral banks of Mauritius, the Isles of 
Keunion, Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the Red 
Sea, &c., which serve as a point of junction between 
the oceanic and continental zones of elevation. 

We have already explained by what means these 
variations are discovered ; they are slow but con- 
tinual. We are still far from being acquainted with 
the laws which regulate them, but it is a great 
honour for our century to have clearly demon- 
strated their existence. We may from this mo- 
ment say, with M. Hebert : " In spite of its 
apparent immobility, the whole surface of the 
earth is continually undergoing a balancing action 



350 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

which is at present of such a character that tlie great 
continental zones are rising, whilst the great oceanic 

basins sink The varied surface of the 

earth is simply due to a series of movements, which 
have taken an incalculable time to produce existing 

results Let us carefully remember that 

our measures, adapted to our own comprehension arifl 
to the length of our existence, are borrowed from the 
dimensions and motions of this point in the universe 
which forms our habitation, and can never be re- 
garded, whether as respects space or time, as in any 
sense proportionate to the dimensions and the 
duration of the works of the Creator !" 



361 



AOTiON OF RIVERS AND CURRENTS ON THE BOTT'^M 
OF THE SEA. 



1. Choking of Ports with Sand — Deltas, and the action of the Tide 
upon them— The formation of Deltas may be either favoured 
or retarded by Marine Currents according to circumstances — 
Deltas formed in Shallow Seas — Rapid growth of the Delta of 
the Po due to the Clearing of the south side of the Alps, and to 
the Damming-in of tlie Shores of the River. 

The movements of the submarine soil are among 
the most active causes of variation in the distribution 
of land and sea on our globe ; but they are far from 
being the only causes of this phenomenon. The rush 
of the waters is continually causing disintegration of 
the soil where the current is rapid, and the whole of 
the matter thus carried in suspension is deposited 
when the waters attain a position of rest in parts 
of the ocean where these currents cease to act. This 
is why ports choke up, unless a strong current of 
water can be made to flow through them. The sand 
is deposited most rapidly when the entrance to the 
port follows the direction of a current parallel with 



352 THE BOTTOM OF TUE SEA. 

the coast. A dam constructed at a given distance, 
and turning the current towards the offing, dimi- 
nishes the accumulation of the sand. 

In consequence of the same action, sandy or muddy 
deposits are produced at the months of rivers, in part 
embarrassing tlio issue of the waters, and sometimes 
becoming sufficiently important to constitute islands 
extending to a greater or less distance into the sea, 
and called " deltas." 

We have already seen that rivers carry a large 
amount of rubbish of all kinds into the sea. Kocks 
of any size do not travel far beyond the mountains 
from which they are torn ; coarse gravel goes a little 
farther, but does not always reach the sea. In the 
case of the Ganges, it is found 400 miles from the 
mouth; whilst in that of the Po, it is not dis- 
coverable beyond Piacenza. Bodies carried in sus- 
pension go farther in proportion to their lightness. 

Mud and sand, therefore, form essentially the base 
of the delta. Fresh-water or land shells, the remains 
of salt-water animals, and more rarely marine shells, 
help to increase these deposits. 

Eemains of animals of large size are also found in 
such situations, whether they have been carried thei e 
by the river-current, or whether the delta has served 
them for a habitation. The delta of the Ganges is 
inhabited by tigers and alHgators; all the human 



FORMATION OF DELTAS. 853 

bodies thrown into the river, in accordance with 
Hindoo custom, are stranded there. The delta of the 
Mississippi serves as a retreat for numerous alligators. 
The deltas of the Nile, the Rhone, and the Khir.e 
are covered with flourishing cities, while venerable 
forests occupy the immense islands which obstruct the 
mouths of the larger rivers of South America. Th^ 
form of a delta is triangular. The point where the 
river first divides is the apex of the delta. The base 
is the portion of coast-line comprised between the 
mouths of the two inferior branches. Sometimes two 
rivers flow into the sea at points near each other, 
when their deltas may be more or less confounded ; 
in such cases the regularity of an ordinary delta 
must not be expected. The two deltas combined 
form a network, more or less irregular, of islands and 
canals. The Po and the Adige, the Rhine and the 
Mouse, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, are ex- 
amples in point. 

Many causes influence the collection of such debris 
at the mouth of a river. They have been examined 
with minute care in the work of M. Alexandre 
Vezian,* to whom we are indebted for details. 

The more extended the bed of a river is, the more 
materials it is enabled to collect, and consequently 
the more rapid is the formation of its delta. The 

* Prodrome de Geologie. 

2 A 



354 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

two largest deltas are those of the Ganges and 
Mississippi. 

The tides tend to hinder the formation of deltas. 
They cause the waters of the river to be driven back 
daily with considerable agitation. The bed of the 
river is disturbed and broken up, and the great 
rapidity of the current of the falling tide augments 
such disturbance. The Thames, the Tagus, the 
St. Lawrence, and the Amazon are thus influenced. 
If, however, the current of the river be sufficiently 
strong to overcome that of the sea, the delta is 
formed, as in the case of the Ganges. 

An inland sea offers the most favourable condi- 
tions for the establishment of a delta. The Mis- 
sissippi, the mouth of which is at the head of a gulf, 
is subject to conditions intermediate between these 
two extremes. 

A current, parallel with the coast, hinders the for- 
mation of a delta. It seizes the materials as they 
are deposited by the river, and sometimes carries 
them to a great distance, to a spot more calm. This 
has happened in the instance of the Amazon. The 
current of this immense river is recognisable a hun- 
dred leagues from its mouth. The sediment which it 
carries in suspension is considerable ; but the great 
equatorial current, which flows from east-south-east 
to west-north-west along the shores of South 



DELTA OF THE GANGES. 355 

America, carries the river-mud aloug with it as far 
as Guiana, where, far from its parent river, it 
forms deposits which are quite analogous to those 
of a delta. These deposits become gradually trans- 
formed into dry land, and they may be considered as 
the delta of the river, carried, bit by bit, to a point 
westward of its proper destination. 

How does man himself proceed to work, when be 
wishes to recover a few feet of land from the sea ? 
He deposits offshore rocks, stones, and wliatever else 
can be used to fill up the deep. The river at its 
mouth carries with it light sand and mud. At the 
time of its rising, immense rafts or floating islands 
of forest timbers encumber its bed, and, becoming 
entangled in its numerous curves, stop and form true 
dams. The river flows round them, and an island 
is formed. Farther on, similar islands are built up 
near the sea, where the deposits are continued in a 
shelving form, the base of which gains daily ; every 
hour, every minute, brings fresh materials. Nature's 
work never comes to a standstill. 

It is evident that the more shallow a sea is, the 
more rapidly will it fill up, and the more rapidly will 
the delta be formed. The great depth of the Bay of 
Bengal contributes to retain the formation of the 
delta of the Ganges. It may be clearly seen on a 
map of this delta, that the two principal exterior 



856 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

branches fill on either side the ocean depths — build- 
ing up two immense slopes, separated by a narrow 
ravine. Ultimately the two banks will become con- 
nected, the deep water between them being gradually 
filled up. 

The rapid formation of the delta of the Po, and 
the slight depth of the Adriatic, into which sea this 
river pours its waters, are well-known facts. But 
other causes have contributed very considerably to 
this effect ; these are the embankment of the rivers 
and the clearing of the forests. 

The clearing of the soil and the destruction of 
forests tend to augment the quantity of water which, 
in the rainy seasons, flows down into the river- 
courses. Thus man himself helps to increase the 
quantity of material that streams and rivers carry 
into the sea. 

Embankments produce similar effects by aug- 
menting the rapidity of the current, which, in times 
of flood, carries sediment much farther than when 
allowed to spread at its pleasure over vast plains, 
where it deposits great quantities of mud. 

The embankments of the Nile, of the Po, and of 
the Mississippi, show how the growth of a delta may 
be accelerated by narrowing the channel of the 
river. 

The great labour of embanking the Po, and effect- 



DELTA OF THE NILE. 357 

ing the clearings on the southern side of the Alps, was 
performed between the thirteenth and the seventeenth 
centuries. Since then, the mouth of the river has 
advanced with great rapidity into the bosom of the 
Adriatic. The embankment has not only increased 
the amount of materials carried by the Po towards 
the sea, but is continually raising the bed of the 
river, which is actually above the level of the houses 
of Ferrara. 

Similar causes have produced similar effects in the 
case of the Mississippi, since human industry has 
taken possession of the vast region through which 
this river and its tributaries flow. 



2. Egypt, according to Herodotus, a present from the Nile. 

The Egyptians, more intelligent than ourselves, 
take the greatest pains to store up the waters of the 
Nile, by means of dams, at each period of flood. 
They receive them in canals, so as to distribute them 
more completely over the soil. By this means they 
also diminish the foi'ce of the current, and generally 
succeed in mitigating the otherwise disastrous effects 
of the inundation. The mud, which would under 
other circu'ustances be carried to the sea, is depo- 
sited on its way, and fertilises the soil ; the materials 
which would form the delta are spread over the 



35S TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

whole extent of the river's basin. The delta of the 
Nile, therefore, increases less rapidly than those of 
the Mississippi and of the Po, and this in spite of 
the relative smallness of the basin of the last-men- 
tioned river. 

The ancient Egyptians knew the importance of 
the alluvial matter carried in suspension by rivers. 
Herodotus (Book II. chap, x.) cites the opinion of the 
Egyptian priests, according to whom Lower Egypt 
is a present from the Nile, which has filled, by the 
deposition of its mud, an arm of the sea enclosed 
between Libya and the Arabian mountains. He 
adds, that if the lead be thrown at the distance 
of a day's journey from the sea it will come up 
well covered with mud from a depth of eleven 
fathoms. Herodotus bases his opinion on the fact 
that the superficial soil of this country is a blackish 
mud from Ethiopia, which contrasts with the sand 
and gravel, the ordinary soil of these countries. 

The Egyptian priests also remarked, in Hero- 
dotus' time, that under M ris, 900 years before, 
if the Nile in its annual overflow rose eight bits, 
it watered the whole of the plain below Memphis, 
and that it then produce 1 the same effect only when 
it rose fifteen or sixteen cubits. 

Aristotle speaks of the variation of the seas in 
his "' Treatise on Meteors." " Egypt," he says, " fur- 



DELTA OF TUB NILE. 350 

nishes an example of a country becoming drier and 
drier ; it is entirely formed of the depositions from 
the Nile/' According to him, the Canopus, or 
western branch, is the only natural one ; the others 
appear to have been dug by man to facilitate 
drainage. 

Plutarch (" Isis and Osiris ") says that in ancient 
times the valley of the Nile was covered by the 
sea, as is proved by the shells met with in the 
neighbouring desert, and the saltness of the wells 
dug there. Arabian authors of the middle ages 
express the same opinion. 

It is very curious to remark, that ancient ob- 
servers had already sufficiently studied this ques- 
tion to recognise the slow but continuous elevation 
of the bed of the river, and the deposition of its 
suspended matter in the sea, so as to constitute a 
delta. From this elevation of the bed it results, 
that near their mouths, in very flat regions, the 
rivers often flow at a level higher than that of the 
surrounding plain, so that at each flood the waters 
spread over the surrounding country, and cannot 
re-enter their bed but from lakes. 

Often, as if uncertain of their course, the wateis 
divide into several branches to reunite farther on. 
The slightest inequality in the soil forms an insur- 
mo Qtable obstacle to their progress. The waters 



360 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

seem wearied, as of a long journey — then appear to 
leave with regret the land which they have fertilised ; 
they follow a thousand capricious courses, separating 
only to come together again ; they heap up sand 
and mud, as if to reproduce at the last moment the 
mountains which they have destroyed in their force. 
But, alas ! they have no longer that power which 
the suddenness of their descent had before conferred 
on them, and they still labour to diminish it after 
it has already become almost insensible. It is thus 
also that the greatest efforts of man may only serve 
to paralyse his powers, when he works without the 
enlightenment of real knowledge ! 



3. Description of the Delta of the Mississippi — A Village at Anchoi 
— Ships lost in the Sand and Mud of the Eiver. 

The Mississippi is elevated nearly twelve feet 
above the plain about a mile and a half from its 
banks. The main stream therefore has acquired a 
tendency to send its ramifications right and left, 
which soon become the subject of similar phenomena. 

The continual deposition of soil along the banks 
of the river raises its bed above that of the neigli 
bouring plains, and it therefore runs along the 
summit of a low hill. If the waters overflow, they 
spread on both sides of the hill, and are never able 



BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 361 

to return to the channel which they have abandoned. 
They travel gradually towards the sea in innu- 
merable tortuous canals, named hayouSy which occa- 
sionally swell out to form ponds or small lakes. 
Like the principal stream, the hayous also undergo a 
process of gradual elevation of their beds. A second 
series of hayous branch out from the first, and a 
third from these ; the elevation of these hayous 
above the plain becomes less as the distance from 
the main stream increases. The entire region pre- 
sents an appearance opposite to that ordinarily met 
with. The watercourses occupy the crests of low 
hills, and their importance is the greater as the 
height of these hills increases. Irrigation becomes 
a very simple matter in such a country. 

The Mississippi extends very far into the sea. It 
runs out between two banks of slight elevation, which 
it continually lengthens. First, it converts he more 
or less deep sea into shallows, which soon become 
covered with a forest of aquatic plants and reeds. 
A thick layer of mud is deposited at every flood, 
which buries the stalks of the plants, and elevates 
the bottom of the sea in such a manner as to ibrrn a 
species of submarine delta. This deposit is increased 
from year to year. 

Immense rafts of forest timber, carried to the sea 
and again driven back by the waves, become covered 



362 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

with eartb, forming floating islands ; and being 
stranded on the banks described above, the growth 
of the latter is much facilitated. 

In the popular " Tour du Monde," published under 
the direction of Mons. E. Charton, an interesting- 
account is given, by Mons. E. Eeclus, of a voyage on 
the Mississippi as far as New Orleans. He describes 
all the phases of the phenomena of deltas, shows the 
fresh-water separated from the ocean by a moveable 
line of demarcation of sandy mud, forming low islands 
and marshes, and ultimately dry land. 

" All night," he says, '' our vessel dragged over a 
bottom of nauseous mud ; but, far from complaining, 
I congratulated myself on the opportunity of wit- 
nessing what I had travelled 2000 leagues to see. 
What can be more interesting, from a geological 
point of view, than this vast stretch of alluvial soil 
in a semiliquid state ! Produced by the slow cor- 
rosion of flowing waters during many ages from the 
mountain-chains of North America, this sand and 
clay form in the Gulf of Mexico a thick bed of from 
200 to 300 yards in depth, which sooner or later, by 
subsidence and the influence of tropical heat, will 
become transformed into vast strata of rock, and will 
serve as a base for fertile and populous regions. In 
their work of creation these suspended particles are 
sifted by the soa into deposits of various sizes, and 



MUn OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 363 

are tlius heaped up into islands or new shores ; or 
perhaps, carried away by the current of Florida, are 
deposited a thousand leagues farther off, on the 
Banks of Newfoundland. 

" Towards daybreak the captain thought of a 
means of getting off the mud-bank, and sent one ot 
our boats to the mouth of the river to find a pilot. 
Some miles ahead a long thin black line seemed to 
jut out into the sea, like an immense mole ; beyond 
this dark line the river was distinguishable like a 
broad silver ribbon; farther, another black line, 
parallel to the first, was visible; and still beyond 
this might be seen the blue sea-waters stretching to 
the horizon. The Mississippi appeared to us like a 
canal carried right out into the sea between two 
long jetties, and the forty or fifty sail, just apparent 
against the sky, rendered the resemblance still more 
remarkable : such a spectacle will one day be pre- 
sented, on a smaller scale, by the Suez Canal pro- 
jecting into the waters of the Mediterranean. 

*' When we approached the mouth of the river the 
tug slackened speed, for caution was necessary in 
entering the buoyed channels which lead to the 
entrance of the river: these passes are very dan- 
gerous because the currents, both of river and tide, 
cause the depth to vary. Ordinarily, the islands 
formed by the subsidence of the suspended matter 



364 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

grow insensibly ; but, during tempests, the sub- 
marine configuration of the mouth changes com- 
pletely, and it is unsafe for ships to attempt an 
entrance until numerous soundings have been made. 
In spite of his native audacity, even our American 
pilot felt it necessary to cast the lead repeatedly. 

" At last we entered the course of the river itself, and 
joyfully felt the rush of the current against the sides 
of the vessel. Nevertheless, although sailing up the 
Mississippi, we could not see the banks of this won- 
derful river — it appeared to us like a river flowing in 
the middle of the sea. The only indication of the 
submarine banks which had been built up between 
the salt and fresh water, was an occasional muddi- 
ness just above the more elevated portions of the 
banks, or perhaps here and there the bank itself was 
visible in dim outline. As we ascended the river, 
the outlines became more connected ; what had pre- 
viously appeared as disconnected or accidental ele- 
vations in the submarine soil now acquired the ap- 
pearance of a continuous line of demarcation, and 
speedily assumed a more solid and definite appear- 
ance, until ultimately it rose, a solid bank, above 
the level of the surrounding water. At this point 
also the har, or alluvial dam formed across the river, 
attains its greatest elevation. 

" So far the water ploughed by our keel, and left 



SAILIXG UP Tin: MISSISSIPPI. 3Gj 

Inibbling in our wake, has been the undercurrent ul 
Dlue sea-water which flows beneath the yellow water 
of the river, and in the reverse direction ; but no 
sooner have we touched the bar, and felt the ship's 
progress impeded by the resistance of the mud, than 
the colour of the water in our wake changes to a dirty 
yellow, and the already muddy current is rendered 
sensibly thicker by tlie disturbance of the mud at 
the bottom. The lielmsman now requires a firm 
liand and a sharp eye, for the bar is nearly a mile 
loug, and the slightest deviation to the right or left 
may entangle the vessel irretrievably in the mud. 
If the keel once stick, its peculiar motion raises the 
mud, the light particles of which are carried in a 
state of suspension in the current, whilst the heavier 
settles around the hull ; the slow motion of tlie 
ship soon allowing it to collect in sufficient quantity 
so as entirely to stop the vessel, and enclose it as in 
a wall of rock. We passed a few yards from a magni- 
ficent three-masted vessel which had been thus be- 
leaguered, and in the attempts to disengage which 
fruitless efforts had been spent. Enormous banks 
of sand had already collected around it, and now ap- 
peared like great masses of floating cork. 

"The village of Pilotsville, the wooden huts of 
which were visible on the left shore, is generally known 
by the name of Balize. This name really belongs to 



3G6 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 

another village founded by French colonisirs on the 
shore of the south-east channel ; but since the south- 
west channel has become the principal entrance to the 
Mississippi, the pilots have at one and tlie same time 
carried their industry and the name to this miserable 
town. Certainly few places on the earth have a 
more wretched appearance ; the narrow slip of earth 
on which the houses stand is at once the shore of the 
river and of the sea. The waves of the one and the 
floods of the other cover it in turn, and mingle to- 
gether in a labyrinth of slimy and offensive ditches : 
wherever a little solid earth permits the plants to 
take hold, there will be found an impenetrable 
jungle of v/ild sugarcane and rushes. The wooden 
cabins are constructed with extreme lightness, so 
that they may not sink in the soft soil, and to keep 
them as dry as possible they are perched on the top 
of piles like stilts. Moreover, in heavy gales, when 
the waves rush over the bank into the river one 
after another, the houses of Balize might easily be 
swept away if they were not anchored like ships ; 
sometimes, indeed, the village does drag its anchor. 
The miasma which encircles the town of Balize is 
the everlasting source of fever and death, and yet 
four hundred Americans courageously face these 
dangers, and draw what profit they can from the 
succour afforded to vessels in distress. 



SAILING UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 307 

"A liglit wi]i(i blew from tlie south, and our 
captain wished to profit by it and sail np the river. 
Unhappily, tlie river winds in the most distressing 
nianner, and the sailors were obliged to tack about 
continually, to furl and unfurl only to furl again. 
They could scarcely use their hands for fatigue when 
the ship considerately stuck in the soft mud of the 
bank. Towards evening a tug came and pulled us 
out of our ridiculous position. Thanks to this power- 
ful aid, we arrived in less than an hour at the point 
where the river divides into several distinct channels. 
In the last hundred miles of its course the Missis- 
sippi seemed to me like a gigantic arm stretching 
out into the sea, with its fingers spread out on the 
surface of the water. To the west extends the Gult 
of Barataria ; to the east is another gulf, known as 
Lake Borgue ; to tlie south, between each of its 
channels, a little marine gulf also flows, so that the 
whole land-surface consists of narrow strips of coast- 
line, ceaselessly demolished by the waves, ceaselessly 
renewed by deposition from the river. In some 
places the bank is so little elevated above the sew 
level that the waves almost flow over into the Mis- 
sissippi ; and if the roots of the rushes did not bind 
the soil together with their tenacious hold, the beach 
would soon break down, and a new channel be made 
for the ' Father of Yellow Waters.' 



3G8 THE BOTTOM OF THF SEA. 

'' The only vegetation on these narrow huiijid 
coasts is that of the wild sugarcane; trees cannot 
as yet find any hold for their roots. The first tree 
to be found is a poor stunted willow, which has 
manaoed to drao' out a miserable existence on the 
first sufficiently elevated mound of earth to be found — 
namely, one situated about twenty-four miles from 
the mouth of the river. A few hundred yards 
farther up, a little group of two or three more 
healthy-looking willows have managed to plant 
themselves ; still farther, the clusters of willows 
become more frequent : at last they grow in con- 
tinuous clumps, and, intermingling their foliage, 
form a curtain of pale-green, which hides the sea 
from the traveller, and gives a more continental 
appearance to the country."* 



4. Eapid growth of the Deltas of the Po and of the Mississippi — 
Delta of the Nile enlarged by Seven Miles during the Historic 
Period — The Rhone. 

Dry land is being continuously extended seaward at 
1 . mouths of rivers which have formed deltas. As 
the older channels get gradually choked up, a time 
comes when only one remains, which divides again 
into several i)ranches nearer the sea. At the same 

* Extracted from " A Voyage to New OrLans," by M. Reclus. 



OROWTH OF DELTAS. :-ib9 

time now deposits are built ii[> against the assaults 
of the waves, as we have seen to be the case with 
the Mississippi. It results that the delta of former 
times is no longer that of to-day, and that the navi- 
o^able channels are always in course of chauij^e. 

The channels of the Nile do not extend more than 
about four yards in a year. This is partly owing 
to the system of canals established by the Egyptian 
priests, partly to the current whi(*h flows along the 
coast, and which carries a large part of the suspended 
matter towards the cast, and occasionally breaks 
down its banks. 

In the time of Augustus the sea washed against 
the walls of Adria (a city near the mouth of the Po) ; 
the shore is now eight leagues distant, in consequence 
of the growth of the delta of the Po. The increase 
from the twelfth to the sixteenth century was at the 
rate of about twenty-seven yards annually ; it has 
augmented since then, and is now at tlie rate oi 
about seventy-five yards. 

The delta of the Rhone advances, perhaps, fifty- 
five yards each year, and that of the Mississippi about 
380 yards. The immense delta of the Ganges, situ- 
ated at the head of a gulf, must grow rapidly ; 
but, as the spot is very unhealthy, it has never been 
inhabited, and there are no data which would enable 
us to form a judgment on the subject. 

2 B 



870 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA 

The outward growth of the 1 eads ol deltas is 
proved by raany facts, but none are so striking as 
those which concern the delta of tlie Nile. At one 
time this river flowed into the sea through seven 
branches, of which tliere were three principal ones. 
Of these branches two only now reiDain — those of 
Rosetta and Damietta. The exterior branches (the 
Canopus and the Pelusiac) are filled up, and the 
head of the delta, which was at one time under 
the parallel of Heliopolis, is now about seven miles 
nearer the sea. 

In all deltas the relative importance of the various 
branches of the river is constantly changing. In the 
time of the Etruscans the course of the Po was the 
Po-di-Primaro, but now the principal branch is 
farther north. 

The head of the delta of the Rhone is at Aries. 
The western branch, now (ailed the Little Rhone, 
was at one time the more important. It was itself 
successor to a still more western branch, now dried 
u[). The principal course, at the present time, divides 
into several branches before falling into the sea; 
one of these will, in course of time, alone remain, 
as the others will gradually be filled up. 



ACCUMULATlOSii OF SAM). :S7J 



5. Littoral accumulations — Coast-line -Murine Lagoons and Pools- 
Lagoons moved inland by tlie eiiccts of the Dunes in Gascoiiy — 
Villages buried beneath the Dunes near St. Pol-de-Le'ou in 
Brittany, and also in Guscony — Bordeaux menaced. 

The elevation of a sliore by the addition ot* fresh 
soil is effected by the sca-^vaves as well as by rivers. 
Every coast exhibits, within the limits occupied by 
the sea, a quantity of loose sand and rounded peb- 
bles. The less rapid the cunent is at the bottom of 
the sea, the slower is the accumulation, which, how- 
ever, attains great importance on low coasts, giving 
rise to dunes, bars, and a number of other phenomena, 
which we shall indicate in a few words. 

We have seen that the mass of loose stones, &c. 
thrown up by the sea at its borders, is continuous 
along every coast, and that it marks what is called the 
coast-line. When formed of fine sand, and the soil 
is not clayey, the action of the wind, in conjunction 
with the waves, causes the production of those hills 
of sand called dunes. 

Lagoons often accompany the coast-line if the shore 
be clayey, and if the country be sufficiently flat to 
allow the water to remain in any slight inequality 
of the soil, or to flow very slowly towards the sea. 

Bars and other phenomena, the study of which 
would carry us beyond our subject, in conjunction 



372 ' THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

with the coast-line, the dunes, and the lagoons, con- 
stitute the littoral apparatus. *' They combine to 
form a very decisive line of demarcation between the 
region of storms and agitation outside the sea, and 
the abode of peace within the land."* 

The coast-line, in some cases, may become a 
barrier which completely separates the waters of a 
gulf from those of the sea. But even when the coast 
presents no hollow for the collection of the water, 
salt lakes or lagoons may be formed if a line of rocks, 
visible or not above water, should exist at a certain 
distance from the shore, and form a bar to the sand 
or other stuff that may be washed up by the sea. 
The lagoon may retain one or two communications 
with the sea, in the shape of channels, or it may 
become completely enclosed. 

Marine ponds are deep lagoons ; they are numerous 
on the coast of France. That of Thau, near Cette, is 
one of the most remarkable. If a lagoon entirely 
separated from the sea does not receive any stream 
of water, it dries gradually, and increases in saltness. 
When it receives a river, its saltness diminishes. In 
any case, the creatures which it feeds are modified 
according to the changes in the composition of the 
water. Thus, the lagoons of Finland are inhabited 
by freshwater animals, and also by a kind of shrimp 

* Elie de Benumoiit, Le'^ons de Geohgie Pratique. 



FuiaiATION OF DUNES. '67H 

which is able to livo in water less smU thaii that of 
the ocean. 

The encroachments of the sea on dry land are not 
confined to inundations ; it sometimes bores beneath 
the sand, wliich it throws up from its bosom. The 
dunes (so called from the Celtic word dun, which sig- 
nifies an elevated spot), or sandhills, are formed on the 
seashore, as in the African desert, by the action of 
the wind on the loose sand. They present a gentle 
inclination towards the sea, whilst on the land-side 
they are terminated by an abrupt decvlivity. Their 
height is generally from 15 to 20 yards, but in rare 
instances they attain a height of 80 yards, which may 
be considered the extreme limit. 

For the rapid formation of dunes it is necessary 
that the sea should leave a large space bare, which 
subsequently it will cover with its waters and the 
sand it carries with it. These conditions are best 
fulfilled on those coasts where the daily ebb-and-flow 
of the tide leaves a large extent of sand exposed to the 
drying action of the sun and w ind. Another condition 
on which the increase of the dunes depends, is that 
the sea-winds blow more frequently than those from 
the land — otherwise the work of one day will be 
undone by that of another. 

The formation of dunes is sufficiently simple. The 
wind from the sea blowing over the sandv waste, 



374 



THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



causes an inclined plane to be iunuea, up which the 
particles of sand are afterwards driven, and having 
attained the summit, fall down the declivity, which 
they continually enlarge. At the base another sand- 




Fig. 65. 



Vili 



buned undt 



d Dunes. 



hill commences its inclined plane, and the same 
action of the wind effects a similar transference of 
the sand to a third hill. The materials of each dune 
are thus driven from one drift to another; so that 
they are continually being destroyed, and as con- 



GROWTH OF LWNJ'JS. 3'/ 5 

tinually re-forined, at a greater distaiiee frojn the 
sea. As the sand is carried farther inland by this 
process, it makes way for new supplies from the 
inexhaustible stores of the ocean. 

These waves of sand, invading the land by the 
impulse of the wind, have, like the sea-waves, an un- 
equal motion, according to the configuration of the 
ground. Everything must alike yield to their con- 
stantly advancing forces : cultivated land, forests, 
houses, villages, and towns disappear beneath them ; 
even pools of water retire before them, as in Gascony, 
where, under the influence of the dunes, numerous 
saltwater pools are pushed farther inland, and their 
level constantly raised. 

As the Mediterranean is almost tideless, the dunes 
are formed there with much less facility than on the 
oceanic coasts. On the latter examples may be cited 
of villages being buried like caravans in the desert. 

At a spot near St. Pol-de-Leon, in Brittany, 
where a village stood in 1666, a few sand hillocks, 
with a few chimneys and steeples to indicate the 
original site of the village, alone remained fifty years 
after: the dunes had advanced at the rate of about 
580 yards every year. The dunes of Gascony, how- 
ever, do not grow with this frightful rapidity, their 
progress not exceeding some 25 yards annually. If 
the progress should remain constant, at this rate they 



376 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

\vili reach Bordeaux in '^000 years. Several Gascon 
villages, the names of which are transmitted by docu- 
ments of the middle ages, have completely dis- 
appeared. 

The coasts of the Netherlands, La Vendee, Pata- 
gonia, and more especially of tlie Sahara, are among 
the more important fields of thi^ phenomenon. 



6. Floating Icebergs— Polar Winters. 

As we have already explained, floating icebergs 
deposit a vast quantity of earthy material at the 
bottom of the sea. They are, in fact, one of the 
most powerful agents of transport. As we approach 
the poles, floating masses of ice are met with. They 
become larger and more numerous as we advance, 
and at a high altitude a continuous field of ice 
stretches before the view, and, no doubt, joins a 
continent which is also frozen. 

Great danger is incurred in an attempt to pene- 
trate these regions. Ships are in constant danger of 
being crushed between the immense masses of 
floating ice, some of which rise to a height of 40 
yards above the level of the sea, which corresponds 
to a submerged thickness of 280 yards. As they 
advance they gradually melt, and distribute on their 



THE ARCTIC BEGIOXS. 



377 



route Ibo materials which tho\' liavo trans; lorted 
from tlie arctic continents, or from the beds of the 
polar seas. 

If the sailor succeed in passing- the zone \\liere 
these immense masses of ice float, lie may ex[)ect 




Fvy. 66. — Floating Glaciers. 

every instant to see the sea freeze up around Ids 
vessel and keep him prisoner for entire months, in a 
region where he may perish of hunger, sliould he 
escape the thousand-and-one more immediate dangers 
whicli threaten him. 



378 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

The celebrated arctic explorers, Captain John 
Davis, Sir Edward Parry, 8ir John Koss, Sir John 
Franklin, Captain (now Sir Robert) M'Clure, Dr. 
Kane, Captain (now Sir Leopold) M*Clintock, and 
others, in their search for the nortli-west passage, 
have only too clearly demonstrated the dangers of 
any attempt to penetrate these regions. Nor ought 
we to omit the name of the intrepid and learned 
De Blosseville. Sent on an exploring expedition to 
the coasts of Greenland in the Lilloise, he and his 
companions must have perished miserably in those 
inhospitable regions, for not a trace has since been 
discovered of them. 

The ice-bound ship is in an unsafe position, but 
its release may be attended with even more danger 
than its captivity. Sir Leopold M'Clintock, who suc- 
ceeded in discovering a few remains of Franklin's 
expedition, says : " On the 18th of August we had 
arrived in the mid-channel of Melville's Bay, in 
Lancaster Straits, when, being unexpectedly encircled 
by an immense accumulation of drift-ice, we found 
ourselves compelled to pass the winter in the midst 
of one of those vast fields of ice of which I had 
often heard during my career as a sailor. In the 
course of the winter the force of the water often 
opened long crevices or channels in the solid vault of 
ice which covered it, and these solutions of continuity 



BREAKIXG-UP OF THE ICE. 379 

were produced witli such violence, tliat often masses 
of ice were tlirown up, as by the effect of a miue, 
several feet in tlie air, and formed banks on either 
side of the crevice from whicli tliey had been pro- 
jecteh During our captivity we were able to ca})- 
ture in these channels of open water about 70 sea- 
cows, which furnished us with food for our dogs and 
oil for our lamps. 

" We did not regain our liberty until the 25th of 
April, in latitude 60° 30', and under circumstances 
which will long be remembered by those who shared 
in the expedition. A violent tempest arose in the 
south-east ; the ocean, stirred from its depths, broke 
up its icy crust, and hurled into chaotic disorder the 
broken masses of the icefield, threatening a score of 
times the little Fox with total destruction. Our 
salvation in these critical circumstances was due in 
the first place to Providence, and secondarily to the 
excellence of our screw and the form of our stem." 

It thus appears that M^Clintock's ship had drifted 
with" the ice from the 75th to the 63rd degree of 
latitude — that is to say, a distance of about 300 
leagues from its starting-point. A violent spring 
storm broke up this mass of ice, which then drifted 
in dangerous confusion towards Newfoundland, wliere 
it would meet with the warm waters of the Gulf 
Stream, and gradually disappear in the ocean. 



380 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



INFLUENCE OF LIFE ON VARIATIONS IN THE BED 
OF THE OCEAN. 



1. Formation of Coral Reefs ; limit to tlieir yi'owtli — Conditions 
favourable to tlieir development. 

Animal and vegetable life inliiiences to a great extent 
the various changes at the bottom of the sea. We 
have already seen that animals of the smallest size 
build the most important submarine constructions, 
but that every other kind of existence has also a hand 
in this continual transformation or modification of the 
submarine world. 

The tropical seas especially swarm with an immense 
variety of living beings. But as in other seas, so here 
in warmer waters, the shores are more inhabited than 
the deeps, and at a little distance from the surface 
life ceases to exist. 

We will attempt to describe briefly one of the most 
interesting and wonderful of marine phenomena, that 
of the construction of coral reefs, which attain such 
important dimensions in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian 
Ocean, and the West Indian seas. 



CONSTEUCTION OF CORAL REEFS. 381 

Polypiers continue to grow until tliey have reached 
the surface of the water. The construction of coral 
may be likened to a forest ; intervals are left com- 
parable to those between the branches of a tree and 
the trees of the forest. Animal remains — partly de- 
rived from the decay of some parts of the coral, partly 
consisting of tlie debris of molluscs and fisli — fill up 
the gaps, and, in the manner of a chemical cement, 
serve to bind the whole into a compact mass. 

The coral insects absorb, particle by particle, the 
carbonate of lime from the water, and they deposit 
it afterwards. The carbonate sometimes appears in 
a muddy form, and, hardening by exposure to air, 
appears very similar to chalk. This plienomenon is 
very remarkable in the Bermudas, where it has been 
studied by the naturalist Nelson: "After having 
observed the decomposition of shells and polypiers 
from the less calcareous to the clumps of meandrinae 
and astreae, not only in situ, but m the masses which 
had been detached by means of the diving-bell for 
the ^vorks of the arsenal, I do not hesitate to affirm 
a common origin for the chalk of the Bermudas and 
the banks of stone, more or less solid, which constitute 
the islands themselves— only that the latter result from 
the accumulation of fragments mechanically broken, 
whereas the rock or chalky paste is due to the de- 
struction, owing to prolonged submersion, of the mem- 



382 THE BOTTOM OF TEE SEA. 

branous tissue which penetrates the whole mass, and 
which is then separated from the calcareous matter 
contained in its meshes. The formei', by its precipi- 
tation, forms that soft whitish substance, analogous to 
chalk, wliich is found in the bottoms of creeks and 
gulfs mixed with shelly sands, the debris of poly piers, 
well-preserved shells, and consi'lerable masses of 
meandrinae and astrese." 

The coral insects love warm water and constant 
agitation. This last circumstance gives a very cha- 
racteristic appearance to the calcareous deposits which 
accompany them. Crystals of carbonate of lime are 
deposited in the liquid mass, and become centres 
around which new molecules of the same matter group 
themselves. The constant agitation of the water gives 
a rotatory motion to the little solid nuclei already 
formed, whil&t continued deposition goes on in such 
a manner as to give them a spherical form. The 
rock thus acquires a peculiar texture, called oolitic. 

Lastly, we may observe that coral does not flourish 
except in limpid water and on a rocky bottom. 



LWIiiG FORCE IRRESISTIBLE. 883 



2. Life and Inanimate Nature — Coral Insects die in th(^ calm of Deep 
Waters — Explanation of tiie formation of tlie Dei p Reefs of the 
Pacific Ocean — Coast Reefs — Broken Reefs — Barrier Reefs of 
Australia — How the Coral Reef becomes an Island. 

Darwin observes, in bis beautiful work on tbe 
formation of Coral lieefs, that wben the ocean 
hurls its waves against the shores of tlie Pacific 
Islands, they find in it an invincible enemy. Never- 
theless, its force is sometimes withstood by obstacles 
apparently very feeble. It never seems to repose. 
Its mighty billows, raised by the ti-ade-winds, roll in- 
cessantly against the shores. The turbulence of the 
water lashed into foaming breakers is much greater on 
the shores of these islands than in our temperate 
regions; and no one could observe them without 
feeling convinced that rocks even of granite or 
quartz must eventually yield to forces so consider- 
able, and be utterly demolished. These little isles 
of coral, however, so low, so insignificant, resist suc- 
cessfully the assault made upon them, thanks to the 
intervention of another force, in some sort opposed 
to the first, which takes part in the struggle. The 
organic forces detach, particle by particle, from the 
foaming breakers the carbonate of lime, which they 
afterwards reunite in a symmetrical form. Myriads 
of architects are employed in this work night and 



384 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

day, and we see their soft gelatinous bodies, aided by 
the law of vitality, quell the brute power of the 
waves, against which neither the industry of man 
nor tlie inanimate forces of nature would be able to 
struggle with success. 

Life, apparently weak and mean, but in reality 
active and full of resources, issues victorious from an 
incessant struggle, in which inert matter threatens 
momentarily the destruction of the i'rail enemy whose 
strength she continually feeds. I oral insects prefer 
a current of water. It carries away from them the 
matters rejected or secreted by their bodies, and be- 
come innutritions, or even as dangerous to them as 
poisons. The cahn reigning in deep water is death 
to these minute animals. 

The coral polypi live near the surface : according 
to Darwin and Dana, they never build at a depth ex- 
ceeding forty yards, whilst other species live at much 
greater depths, even reaching to 400 yards. How, 
then, can we explain the great depth to which some 
of the larger coral banks, like those of the Fiji Islands, 
descend ? Darwin has discovered a simple explana- 
tion of this fact. Founded on numerous observa- 
tions, it entirely accords with what geology teaches 
us respecting the crust of the globe. 

Since the coral insect does not live out of the water, 
the growth of the reef ( annot go on above its surface. 



FORMATLOS OF CORAL JSf.AXDS. 'ASt 

Kere the sea itself assists in raising the elevation of 
one part of the reef by disintegrating or hrealcing 
up others. When the reef is of sncli a lieight, says 
Chamisso,* that it is k^ft almost dry at low-tide, the 
coral insects abandon their work. Above this line a 
continuous stony stratum may be observed, com 
posed of the shells of molluscs, of echinoidaB with 
their points broken, and of fragments of cora' 
cemented together by a calcareous sand produced b) 
the pulverisation of the shells. The heat of the sun 
often penetrates this mass when it is dry, and causes 
cracks in different directions ; then the waves have 
sufficient power to break off masses of coral, some- 
times six feet long, and four or five feet in thickness, 
and to throw them up on the reefs, whereby the crust 
is so elevated that high-tide only covers it at certahi 
seasons of the year. The calcareous surface does 
not, however, suffer any subsequent disturbance, but 
offers a soil to the seeds of trees and plants brought 
by the waves, upon which the vegetables grow with 
sufficient rapidity to form very soon a covering for its 
dazzling white surface. Even before the trees 
become sufficiently bushy to form a wood, the sea- 
birds build their nests on the once bare reef; and 
land-birds, lost in the ocean waste, fly to it as a place 
of refuge ; and still later, long after the coral 
* Expedition of Kotzebue. 

2 c 



3S6 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

insects have finished their work, man appears, and 
builds his hut on the now fertile soil. 

The coral insects, unable to live in fresh-water, 
are interrupted in their work wherever a river pours its 
tribute into the sea. The reefs are also subject to very 
sudden breaks at a short distance from the sea, if the 
b'~*ttom be a very steep inclines ; such are the coast 
reefs, or broken reefs, so called on account of their 
situation and of their frequent breaks. 

Sometimes a channel of considerable width, and of 
more or less depth, separates the reef from the coast. 
It is then called " a barrier reef." Some of these are 
of very great extent. One, on the coast of New 
Caledonia, is 100 leagues long ; another follows the 
eastern coast of Australia for a distance of 400 
leagues, almost without interruption. The channel 
which separates this reef from the mainland is from 
60 to 100 feet in depth, and its width varies between 
15 and 50 leagues. 

Coral reefs are circular when the coast opposite to 
which they are built is that of a small island. If, 
instead of an island, there is a shallow, such as would 
be produced by the summit of a submarine mountain, 
the reef becomes converted into an island, in the form 
of a ring, in the midst of which is a lagoon, generally 
communicating with the ocean, although occasionally 
it is quite enclosed. Sometimes the lagoon fills up, and 



'^ ATOLLS" OF THE I'ACTFW. 887 

the island takes the form of a circular plateau. In 
either case such au island is called an atoll. 

The recurrence of this plienomenon is too frequent, 
more especially in tlie Pacific Ocean — its cause has 
been too long a hard nut for the savans — for us to 
pass it by without saying a few words in respect 
to it. 

The shape of these ,islan Is led to the belief, that 
the coral insects had built tlieir reefs on the edges of 
submarine craters. The general resemblance be- 
tween them and certain volcanic islands had struck 
the first observers. Such islands (as Barren Island 
and others) presented a circular belt of mountains, 
interrupted in one spot by a canal forming a com- 
munication between the sea and the interior lake. 
The mountains are the sides of a crater, the bottom 
of which has been filled up with the invading waters 
of the ocean. The same general character is at first 
evident in the appearance of an atoll. But how 
can the size of craters which correspond to atolls be 
explained ? — eleven leagues in diameter, such as that 
of Bow Island, or of double the diameter, as in several 
of the Maldive Islands ? Again, how is it possible 
to admit that the Pacific Ocean is studded with so 
many volcanoes, all of which attain about the same 
height of 40 yards ? Lastly, how can the theory of 
submarine volcanoes be applied to the formation o.f 



388 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

barrier reefs, of which atolls are evidently only a 
particular instance ? 

We Imve already explained that the bottom of 
the sea is undergoing a constant though very slow 
variation. It rises in some points to sink at others ; 
and this movement, which requires centuries to make 
itself evident, is the most energetic agent of the 
modifications occurring on the surface of our planet. 
Darwin has very ingeniously applied the knowledge 
of this general fact to the explanation of atolls. We 
give his theory in a few words, as follows : 

The coral insects do not live beyond a depth of 
forty yards. They are therefore confined to the 
shallows, or to the neighbourhood of coasts. On the 
other hand, the close proximity of land troubles them 
for various reasons, among which may be mentioned 
the outflow of the soft waters of rivers, and the agi- 
tation which causes mud, &c. to be held in sus 
pension. They therefore remain at a certain distano^ 
from the shores. Sooner or later the waves break 
ap a portion of the coral barriers, and wash the frag- 
ments over the reef into the clear channel which it 
thus tends to fill. When the reef reaches the surface 
of the water the existence of its artificers becomes 
impossible. But if the soil be slowly sinking, there 
must always remain sufficient water above the colony 
to permit of its continued growth. 



nJHMATIOX OF ''ATOLLS." 389 

Take the instance of an island slowly sinking. 
The coral forms at first a continuous reef around the 
coast ; as the level sinks, the coral grows upward. 
The island diminishes at the same time in size, and 
leaves a channel between it and the reefs, which then 
(Continue their growth. A time would at length come 
when a coral reef, in the form of a ring, would be 
visible surrounding a lagoon, in the middle of whicli 
would be seen the remains of the primitive island. 
At last, when the island shall have completely dis- 
appeared, the coral ring — thanks to the persistent 
eiltbrts of the coral insect — will remain ; it will sur- 
round a lake of less depth in the centre than at tlie 
sides. Later, the earth continuing to sink, the depth 
of the middle of the lake will continue to increase, 
whilst the edges will be slowly filled up with the 
debris arising from the disintegration of a portion of 
the coral reef. The lake will have become like any 
other — the atoll will be complete ; it will itself per- 
haps finally disappear, or increase in size, if the 
movement of the earth's crust should change its 
direction. 

The same theory evidently explains the forma- 
tion of coast reefs and barrier reefs, since these are 
nothing more than the elements of the atoll built in 
a peculiar situation relative to the land. 



m) THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



3. Slowness of the growth of Coral Reefs — Florida Keys — Destruetiou 
of Coral Islands during a tempest in January 1865 — Regions 
in which Coral Reefa are found. 

Although it is certain that the growth of coral 
reefs is very slow, yet we have no very precise obser- 
vations on this point. Dana estimates the growth of 
tlie madreporic polypier at the rate of (0'^*41) more 
than a foot, annually. 

According to an observation by Hunt in West 
Key, Florida, in 1857, a meandrina increased six 
inches in radius in eleven years. According to the 
observations of the same naturalist, an occulina grew 
rather faster. 

Some large specimens of meandrinse, observed by 
Ehrenberg in the Bed Sea, w^ould thus appear to be 
thousands of years old, and must at least have been 
contemporaneous with Moses. But Ehrenberg's esti- 
mate of size was perhaps a little exaggerated. 

The growth of a reef is much slower than that of 
the coral which composes it. The sea incessantly 
effects its partial destruction. Sometimes, indeed, 
the violence of the waves uproots it completely. 
Such a case occurred in the Palmerston Islands in 
January 1865, as described by Captain Dunn, of the 
English brig Annie Laurie, in an account to the 



DESTItUCTJON OF CORAL ISLANDS. 'A'.)\ 

United States' consul at Tahiti.* This sailor had 
encountered a terrible linrricane in soutli latitude 
19° 20', west longitude 102°. '^ found," says he, 
" the islands of this group in a deplorable state. 
Tlie Falmerston group originally numbered seven 
islands— six only now remain ; the north-easterly one, 
and a part of the coral reef, having entirely dis- 
appeared." 

Coral reefs and islands are only developed in tro- 
pical seas. They are, however, exceptionally found 
in the Bermudas, in latitude 33° N., a circumstance 
due to the warmth of the waters of the Gulf Stream 
which flows by these islands. They are not met 
with on the western coasts of Africa and America, in 
consequence of the diminution in the temperature of 
these parts, occasioned by the cold marine currents 
from the poles. 

In no part are the coral reefs so extensive as on 
the coasts of New Caledonia and Australia. In fact, 
these seas have in consequence been designated the 
Coral Seas. 

The atolls of Tahiti and of the Bass Islands are 
surrounded by sea at a mean temperature of 
77° Fahr. Near Peru and Chili the mean tempera- 

* Extract from a letter by Mr. Withing, Commodore in the 
American Navy, inserted in the Bulletin International de I Obaer- 
vatoire Imperial de Paris. 



392 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

ture of the sea is 60° Faiir. A difference of tem- 
perature, amounting to 17° Fahr., therefore arrests 
the growth of the coral reefs. 

The Persian Gulf, the Ked Sea, and that part of 
the Indian Ocean comprised between Africa and 
Sumatra, are also very rich in coral. We must, 
however, remark that these seas have the highest 
temperature of any on the globe. 

For the same reason coral flourishes in the seas 
of the West Indies, and on the eastern coast of 
Florida. The researches of Agassiz show that the 
entire peninsula of Florida is formed of rocks 
belonging to the present epoch, and that these 
rocks are principally composed of coral reefs and 
marine shells. The southern and western coasts of 
Florida are surrounded by an immense number of 
islands, separated one from another by very narrow 
channels. These islands are in many instances 
connected at low-tide, or even sometimes only sepa- 
rated from dry land by flat marshes. 

These islands, designated '' Keys," form concentric 
lines fronting the continental shore, from which they 
do not extend a great distance, the most remote 
being ten leagues off. They rise little more than 
from six to twelve feet above the level of the sea ; 
and, like the land itself, are composed of coral, both 
in masses and in sand thrown up by the sea, the 



VEGETABLE DEBRIS. 393 

whole cemented together by tlie infiltration of CiU'- 
bonate of lime. 

A coral reef, still inliabited by the animals, runs 
parallel with the Keys, following the same curves, 
and at a distance varying from 2000 to (JOOO yards. 
Between the reef and the Keys there is a navigable 
channel (six or seven fatiioms in depth), which com- 
municatt'S with the opc^n sea by a number of channels 
traversiniif the coral reef. 

Generally speaking, the banks of coral forming 
the reef do not reach to the surface of the sea ex- 
cept at particular points, where the accumulation of 
broken coral, &c. has initiated the formation of little 
keys. 

The Gulf Stream flows beyond the reef of living 
coral. 



4. Algse — Submarine Forests and Prairies — Floating Seaweed of 
th-! Sargossu Seas — Exten;,ion of the Coasts l>y the llhizophora 
Mangle. 

Marine vegetation, like marine animals, leaves its 
debris to accumulate at the bottom of the sea ; but, 
as we have before explained, their range is much 
more limited than that of the animals, as they are 
principally confined to the shallow parts of the sea 
and to the neighbourliood of coasts. Their pro- 



394 TMJl bottom OF THE SEA. 

digious growth results in the formation of submarine 
prairies, which serve as a retreat for thousands of 
animals. 

The tangled roots of the algae serve to bind together 
and strengthen the loose bottom of the sea, and in 
some oases near the coast favour the extension of 
the land into the sea — thus tliemselves assisting 
to diminish the extent of the domain they inhabit. 

In the middle of oceans, more particularly in the 
Atlantic, enormous quantities of seaweed are met 
with, which have no hold on the bottom of the sea, 
in these parts of great depth. The quantities of 
these plants are so enormous, that the first sailors 
who met with them mistook the appearance they 
presented for dry land, and were terrified to find 
their vessels becoming more and more entangled in 
the weeds which thus hindered their progress. It is 
now known that these immense accumulations of 
seaweed are due to a species of circular current in 
the vast basin of the sea, towards the centre of which 
all the loose floating dehris detached from the coasts 
tends to converge. 

A tree, the Bhizojohora mangle (mangrove), has a 
remarkable influence on the extension of the coasts 
of Guiana, uniting its action with that of the equa- 
torial current, which, as we have already seen, 
transports the delta of the Amazon, fragment by 



COAST VEGETATION. 305 

fragment. This exemplifies the variety of Nature's 
means for producing the same result. 

The mangrove grows abundantly on low coasts 
and in lagoons. Its penlaut branches ultimately 
form its roots. At first they swing in the air, of 
which tliey retain the moisture like the finest sponge. 
When they reach the soil they continue to grow and 
increase in size, penetrating the mud like ordinary 
roots. They resemble so many columns intended 
to support the gigantic branches of the mangrove. 
Each branch thus curiously rooted becomes a new 
trunk, wliich will ultimately transmit sap and 
strength like the parent stem. The roots going 
out from the new trunk give more solidity to the 
marshy ground, and enable the natives to penetrate 
the forests formed of this tree. The mansjroves 
take possession of all the shallows as they are 
formed. The mud, and all kinds of floating bodies, 
are arrested by their roots as by a fine net. The 
algoe consolidate the newly-formed land at the sea- 
side, and the accumulation of sediment elevates it 
on the land-side. The soil in this part soon becomes 
too dry to continue to support the mangroves. The 
cocoanut and other trees replace them, and by their 
presence complete the conquest of the continent 
over the ocean. 



896 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



INSIGNIFICANCE OF MAN COMPAEED WITH THE 
OCEAN. 

The reader has now been introduced to a little 
museum of submarine wonders, by a guide who has 
sometimes perhaps trespassed on his patience, but 
who has aimed, at least, to be instructive without 
being dull. A general idea of the form of the ocean- 
bed, and of some of the mysteries concealed in the 
abyss of waters, has, we may hope, been clearly 
given. Aided by the apparatus of the diver, we 
have been able to enjoy a few moments of submarine 
life, and to advance some steps in the more frequented 
valleys of the ocean landscape. Is the author to 
blame if he cannot find the means for extending 
these excursions still further — if he cannot defy the 
very laws of nature— set at naught the pressure of 
800 atmospheres, under which are hardening the 
marvellous stratifications upon which our descendants 
will live and flourish — see without light, and surpass 
in agility and force the monsters who would make 
us their prey? While we are anxious that these 
lacunae in our knowledge of the sea should be filled 



TELEGRArniC CABLES. 397 

up, it is only prudent not to be too venturesome in 
an element for whicli we are not adapted. 

Standing on the shore, we look with wonder on 
that cable fixed to the rocks, and slowly unrolling 
from a chain carried by a ship steaming seaward. 
It would almost look as if the hardy seaman had 
shrunk from trusting himself to a desert without a 
landmark, and had contrived this means of preserv- 
ing his communication with the shore. But we 
know well enough that he has no need of that 
thread to guide him safely over the vast labyrinth 
of waters. That cable means something quite dif- 
ferent. If we choose to examine the shore-end, 
we shall find that a few copper wires care- 
fully enveloped in gutta-percha occupy the centre. 
Around tliis nucleus is a firmly-twisted cord of iron. 
The heart of the cable is thus protected so that 
nothing may interrupt the track destined for the 
transmission of thought. When resting on the 
bottom of the ocean, this simple apparatus shall 
serve as the medium of communication between one 
human being and another who wish to converse 
together though thousands of miles apart. 

While 'a just pride may be felt in the audacity 
and good fortune which has enabled man to make a 
pathway for thought over the bottom of the abyss, 
there is yet much in this very achievement to make 



S9S THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

US sensible of our littleness. After all, though we 
can make signals through the cable, and see how 
they work at the two extremities, what do we know 
of the whole chain of communication, or of the 
power which we have so audaciously forced into our 
service ? We are ignorant of a thousand mysteries 
in the route, and the work of the ocean goes on 
with small respect for the noble destination of the 
electric submarine conductor of thought. Sponges, 
algse, polypiers, anatiferse, and serpularise freely make 
use of it as their abode — feeling no disquiet, whatever 
secrets of human giief, or joy, or ambition traverse 
their support. A rupture occurs, however, and they 
who laid the cable fish it up again, at tlie same time 
lifting out of their element the imprudent adven- 
turers who had fastened upon the rope. He studies 
them, and consoles himself for his ignorance, as the 
hare laughed at the fright which the frog caused him. 
The multitude of animals which cover the cable 
serve not only to hide it from view, but to increase 
its volume three or fourfold. That represented in 
the engraving has certainly not been very long 
under the water. Tlie animals and plants, at first 
taken by surprise, have to get accustomed to its 
presence before they weave around it its oceanic 
vestment. 

When the cable is laid at the depth of some 



FOSSILISED CABLES. 



3^9 



thousands of yards, the operation lor its recovery is 
extieiiiely delicate and hxborious. Any agitation of 
the ship might injure it; its weight, added to that 
of the animals and plants which have made it their 
home, would often be sufficient to make it break, and 
in such a case the broken end falls back into the ocean. 




Fig. 67.— Telegraphic Cable at the Bottom of the Ocean. 



Once more settled at the bottom, it serves, as before, 
for the support of the living beings who clothed it 
with their strange forms after having for an instant, 
by its fall, disturbed the calm repose of the sub- 
marine solitudes. At some remote period, when the 



400 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

work of ages shall have raised the bottom of the sea 
above the waters, and the mountains, which now 
form the grandest features of the earth's surface, 
shall have sunk beneath the waves, the successors of 
the present race of mankind will look with astonish- 
ment on this new species of fossil, the relic of a for- 
gotten civilisation, buried out of sight in the same 
way as the vestiges of the past which we ourselves 
are so interested in studying. 

Shipwrecks, too, with the debris of their various 
freights, will lend their irrefragable testimony to the 
former existence of man, and increase the perplexity 
of the geologists of the future. Still more, in the 
midst of the most sharply-defined marine deposits, 
the observer will discover the remains of our vanishing 
race. He will see artificial tunnels pierced through 
the most varied strata ; and in these, at least, he will 
find evidence of, our present labours to reward his 
researches. If herealHier, not contented with piercing 
the mountains to avoid the labour of ascent and 
descent, we drive our roads beneath the seas them- 
selves, what would come to pass ? Above our secure 
highway, storms and cyclones would pass harmlessly ; 
we should hear, perhaps, their fearful music, and be 
deafened by the roar of the waves, or the rush of the 
locomotive with its ugly train of carriages ; but we 
gliould speed with the swiftness of the wind &om one 



, TUNNELLING UNDER THE SEA. 401 

ocean shore to another, and defy the caprices of the 
winds and waves. 

But the geologists and engineers of former ages 
need not despair. We are yet very far from the 
accomplishment of these marvels. For a long time 
to come the monsters of the deep will make sport of 
our telegraphic cables ere they fly before the breath 
of the locomotive, and the discordant noises of the 
submarine tunnel. 

In the meantime, as a foreshadowing of what may 
be anticipated for the distant future, the Thames 
has been securely tunneled, and there is much talk 
of plans for cheating the storms of the English 
Channel by driving a road beneath it from Dover 
to Calais. It may be thought there is too much 
bravado in the project, but the Channel is little more 
than a stream compared with some of the American 
rivers, and the depth of the water in several points 
is not more than from 20 to 25 feet. Even were 
this design accomplished, we should be far indeed 
from attacking the ocean itself. 

Until, as the skill of our engineers progresses, we 
lose all dread of anything crushing in our tunnels, 
the sea wiU demand innumerable victims, and 
swallow up many a rich argosy. It would be in- 
teresting to make an approximative estimate of our 
gains and losses by the ocean, so as to ascertain on 

2 D 



402 TEE BOTTOM OF THE SKA. 

which side the balance of the account lies. But a 
mere enumeration of the oceanic imposts wouhl be 
tedious, while a history of our gains, of the various 
means by which man compels the ocean to pay him 
tribute in return, would be too large a subject for 
the scope of this little book. 

Let us rather turn from a subject so full of painful 
memories to contemplate man in contrast with the 
grandeur of creation. The thin pellicle of the 
earth's crust, which we laboriously scratch here and 
there in the accomplishment of our great designs, 
hardly counts for anything in the harmony of the 
universe, even as a whole ; its modifications by our 
labours are of small account indeed, whether re- 
garded for their grandeur or their durability. If 
the intelligence of man has placed him at the head 
of the creation, the feeble influence that he can 
exercise over Nature ought to humble his pride. 
All that he can accomplish by physical labour is 
almost imperceptible by the side of the work effected 
by the microscopic infusorise; man, th^ giant, is 
dwarfed in results by the almost invisible atom ! 



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Illustrated Library of Wonder:^. 



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nPHE INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS, with 

-•- Illustrative Anecdotes. — From the French of Ernest 

Menault. With 54 illustrations. One volume, i2mo . $i 50 

For sjiecttnen illustration see page 1 6. 
In this very interesting volume there are grouped together a great num- 
ber of fadls and anecdotes colIe6led from original sources, and from the 
writings of the most eminent naturalists of all countries, designed to illus- 
trate the manifestations of nitelligence in the animal creation. Very many 
novel and curious fa<5t3 regarding the habits of Reptiles, Birds, and Beasts 
are narrated in the most charmmg style, and in a way which is sure to 
excite the desire of every reader for wider knowledge of one of the most 
fascinating subje(5ts in the whole range of natural history. The grace and 
skill displayed in the illustrations, which are very numerous, make the vol- 
ume singularly attradlive. 

CRITICAL NOTICES. 
" May be recommended as very entertaining." — London Athenoeum. 
" The stories are of real value to those who take any interest in the curious habits of 
arimals." — Rochester Democrat. 

pGYPT 3,300 YEARS AGO; or, Rameses the 
-'--' Great. By F. De Lanoye. With 40 illustrations. One 
'volume, i2mo $1 50 

For sj>ecimen illttstration see page I7« 
This volume is devoted to the wonders of Ancient Egypt during the time 
of the Pharaohs and under Sesostris, the period of its greatest splendor and 
magnificence. Her monuments, her palaces, her pyramids, and her works 
of art are not only accurately described in the text, but reproduced in a 
series of very attra6tive illustrations as they have been restored by French 
explorers, aided by students of Egyptology. While the volume has the 
attradlion of being devoted to a subje6l which possesses all the charms of 
novelty to the great number of readers, it has the substantial merit of dis- 
cussing, with intelligence and careful accuracy, one of the greatest epochs 
in the woild's history. 



Illustrated Library of Wonders. 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 

" I think this a good book for the purpose for which it is designed. It is brief on earl. 
head, lively and Rraphic, without any iheairical artifices; is not the work of a novice, but 
of a real scholar in Egyptolnc.y, and, .ts far as can be ascertained now, is liisiory." — 
J A MES C. MOFFA T, Profrssor in Princetoi Theolo^cnl Seminary. 

"The volume is full of wonders." — Hart/onl Coura.nl. 

" Evidently prepared with great care." — Chicago Evening Journal. 

" Not merely the curious in antiquarian matters will find this volume attra(5live, but the 
general reader will be pleased, entertained, and informed by xV— Portland Ar^ns. 

"The work possesses the freshness and charm of romance, and cannot fail to repay all 
who glance over its pages." — Philadelphia City Item. 

ADVENTURES ON THE GREAT HUNllNC; 
GROUNDS OF THE WORLD. By Victor Meunier. 
Illustrated with 22 woodcuts. One volume i2mo . . $1 50 

For specimen illustration see page 1 8. 

Besides numerous thrilling adventures judiciously sele(5t;ed, this work con- 
tains much valuable and exceedingly interesting information regarding the 
different animals, adventures with which are narrated, together with accu- 
rate descriptions of the different countries, making the volume not only 
interesting, but instru6live in a remarkable degree. 

CRITICAL NOTICES. 

" This is a very attracflrve volume in this excellent series." — Cleveland Herald. 
"Cannot fail to prove entertaining to the juvenile reader." — Albion. 
" The adventures are gathered from the histories of famous travellers and explorers, and 
have the merit of truth as well as interest." — N. Y. Observer. 

" Just the book for boys during the coming Winter evenings." — Boston Daily Journal. 

WONDERS OF POMPEH. By Marc Monnier. 
With 22 illustrations. One volume i2mo . . $i 50 

For specimen illustration see page 1 9. 
There are here summed up, in a very lively and graphic style, the results 
of the discoveries made at Pompeii since the commencement of the exten- 
sive excavations there. The illustrations represent the houses, the domes- 
tic utensils, the statues, and the various works of art, as investigation gives 
every reason to believe that they existed at the time of the eruption. 



Illustrated Library oj IVofuIcrs. 



I 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



i 



" It is undoubtedly one of the best works on Pompeii that have been published, ar j h,is 
this advantage over all others — in that it records the results of excavations to the la.esi 
date."— iV. V. Herald. 

"A very pleasant and instrudlive book." — Baii. Meth. Prot. 

"It gives a very clear and accurate account of the buried cw^y—Pctland Transcript. 

Sttiilime fn Katurc. 

THE SUBLIME IN NATURE, FROM DESCRIP- 
TIONS OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS AND 
WRITERS. By Ferdinand Lanoye. Illustrated with 48 wood- 
cuts. One volume i2mo $1 50 

For specimen ilhcstration see page 20. 
The Air and Atmospheric Phenomena, the Ocean, Mountains, Vulcanic 
Phenomena, Rivers, Falls and Cataracts, Grottoes and Caverns, and the 
Phenomena of Vegetation, are described in this volume, and in the most 
charming manner possible, because the descriptions given have been seledled 
from the writings of the most distinguished authors and travellers. The 
illustrations, several of which are from the pencil of Gustave Dore, re- 
produce scenes in this country, as well as in foreign lands. 

' CRITICAL NOTICES. 

" As a hand-book of reference to the natural wonders of the world this work has no 
tM^^rvox.^''— Philadelphia Inquirer. 

" The illustrations are particularly graphic, and in some cases furnish much better ideas 
of the phenomena they indicate than anything short of an actual experience, or a pano- 
ramic view of them would do." — N. V. Sunday Times. 

THE SUN. By Amedee Guillemin. From the I rench 
by T. L. Phipson, Ph.D. With 58 illustrations. One 
volume i2mo $1 50 

For specimen illustration see page 21. 
M. Guillemin's well-known work upon The Heavens has secured him 
a wide reputation as one of the first of living astronomical writers and ob- 
servers. In this compa(5l treatise he discourses familiarly but most accu- 
rately and entertainingly of the Sun as the source of light, of heat, and of 
diemical a6lion ; of its influence upon living beings ; of its place in the 
Planetary World ; of its place in the Sidereal W< rid ; of its physical and 



Illustrated Library of Wotidcrs. 



chemical constitution ; of the maintenance of Solar Radiation, and, in con- 
clusion, the question whether the Sun is inhabited, is examined. The work 
embraces the results of the most recent investigations, and is valuable for 
its fulness and accuracy as well as for the very popular way in which the 
subjed is presented. 

CRITICAL NOTICES. 

"The matter of the volume is highly interesting, as well as scientifically complete ; the 
style is clear and simple, and the illustrations excellent."— iV. Y. Daily Tribune. 

" For the first time, the fullest and latest information about the Sun has been comprised 
in a single -voXwrsM.^'— Philadelphia Press. 

"The work is intensely interesting. It is written in a style which must commend itsell 
to the general reader, and imparts a vast fund of information in languiige {rQc from asiromt 
mical or other scientific technicalities." — Albany Evening Journal. 

"The latest discoveries of science are set forth in a popular and attradlive style."— /'ort- 
land Transcript. 

" Conveys, in a graphic form, the present amount of knowledge in regard to the luminous 
centre of our solar system." — Boston Congregationalist. 

WONDERS OF Gl.ASS-MAKlNG ; Its Descrt hon 
AND History from the Earlip:st Times to the 
Present. By A. Sauzay. With 63 illustrations on wood. One 
volume i2mo 5 J 50 

For specimen illustration sec page 22. 

The title of this work very accurately indicates its charader. It is writ- 
ten in an exceedingly lively and graphic style, and the useful and ornamen- 
tal applications of glass are fully described. The illustratirms represent, 
among other things, the mirror of Marie de Medici and various articles 
manufadlured from glass which have, from their unique chara61er, or the 
ass< ciations conne(5ied with them, acquired historical interest. 

CRITICAL notices. 

"All the information which the general reader needs on the subjed will be found hcie 
in a very intelligible and attraftive form." — N. Y. Evening Post. 

"Tells about every branch of this curious manufadlure, tracing its progress from ilie re- 
motest ages, and omitting not one point upon which information ran be desired "- -B,'ston 
Post. 

" A very useful and interesting book '" — .V. V. Citi-^en. 



ni It st rated Library of Wonders. 



" An extremely pleasant and useful little book."— i\^. Y. Sunday Times. 
" The book will well repay perusal." — N. V. Globe. 

A most interesting volume." — Portland Argus. 
" Graphically told." — N. Y. Albion. 

" Young people and old will derive equal benefit and pleasure from its perusal."- - 
iV. Y. Ch. Intelligencer. 

WONDERS OF ITALIAN ART. By Louis Viardot. 
With 28 illustrations. One volume i2mo . $1 50 

For specimen illtistration see page 23, 

As a coinpa6l, readable, and instruflive manual upon a subje6l the ex- 
position of which has heretofore been confined to ambitious and expensive 
treatises, this volume has no equal. In style it is clear and attra(5tive ; its 
critical estimates are based upon thorough and extensive knowledge and 
sound judgment, and the illustrations reproduce, as accurately as wood 
engravings can do, the ^eading works of the famous Italian masters, while 
anecdotes of these great artists and curious facts regarding their works 
give popular interest to the volume. 



W^t ^umaii JSotrff. 



WONDERS OF THE HUMAN BODY. Erom the 
French of A. Le Pileur, Do6tor of Medicine. Illustrated 
by 45 Engravings by Leveille. One volume i2mo . $i 50 

For speciinen illustration see page 2/[. 

While sufficiently minute in anatomical and physiological details to satisfy 
those who desire to go deeper into such studies than many may deem 
necessary, this work is nevertheless written so that it may form part of the 
^lomestic library. Mothers and daughters may read it without being re- 
pelled or shocked ; and the young will find their interest sustained by 
incidental digressions to more attra6live matters. Such are the pages re- 
ferring to phrenology and to music, which accompany the anatomical 
description of the skull and of the organs of voice ; and the chapter on 
artistic expression which closes the book. Numerous simple but at 
•T(riiv<^' enijrnvin;:!-; elucidate the work- 



k NE]N SERIES Of 

S^p IHusfralPpb Eifirarg of Wonbprs, 

ENLARGED IN SIZE, IN A NEW STYLE OF BINDING, AND EDITED 
BY PROMINENT AMERICAN AUTHORS. 
■Jhe extraordinary success of the Illustratkb Library of Wondkrs has encouraged 
ihc i^blishers to still further efforts to increase the attractions and value of these admirable 
books. In the new scries, which has just been commenced with Thk Wonders of Waterj 
the size of the volumes is increased, the style of binding changed, and th-; successive 
volumes are edited by distinguished American authors and scientists. 
T\k 'ollowing volumes will introduce 

THE SECOND SERIES OF THE 

Illustrated Library of Wonders. 

MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. (39 Il- 
lustrations.) Edited by J. T. Headley. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY. 

Edited by Dr. J. W Armstrong, Presi- 
dent of the State Normal School Fredonia, 

N. Y. 



WONDERS OF VEGETATION. (Over 
40 Illustrations.) Edited by Prof. Schki.k 
De Vere. 

WONDERS OF WATER, (64 Illus- 
trations.) Edited by Prof. Schele Dh 
Vere. 

WONDERS OF ENGRAVING. (34 
Illustrations.) 



For specimen Illustration, see J>age 4. 

THE FIRST'SERIES OF 

^Jp IKKusl^rfll^pb Itifiparg of Wonbprs 

Comprises Twenty Volumes, containing over 1,000 Beautiful Illustrations, 
rhese twenty volumes in cloth, or in half roan, gilt top, are furnished in a black walnut ca.st> 
for $30.00 (the case gratis), or they may be bought singly or in libraries, classified ac- 
cording to their subjects as below, each i vol. i2mo. Price per vol. $1.50. 



WONDERS OF NATURE. 



THE HUMAN BODY . 
THE SUBLIME IN NATURE . 
INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS 
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. 
BOTTOM OF THE SEA 
VHE HEAVENS . . . . 
6 Vols in a neat box, $9. 



No. Illus. 
43 



WONDERS OF ART. 



ITALIAN ART 
EUROPEAN ART . 
ARCHITECTURE . 
GLASS-MAKING . 
W^ONDERS OF POMPEII 
EGYPT 3,300 YEARS AGO 
6 Vols, in a neat box, tm 



Illus. 
. 28 

II 
. 60 
. 63 

9'> 



WONDERS OF SCIENCE. 

No. Ill 
1 HE SUN. By Guillemin . 
WONDERS OF HEAT 
OPTICAL WONDERS . 
WONDERS OF ACOUSTICS . 
4 Vols, in a neat box, $6. 



ADyPNTijr.ES & EXPLOITS. 

No. Illus. 
WONDERFUL ESCAPES . . 26 
BODILY STRENGTH & SKILL ^o 
BALLOON ASCENTS ... 30 
GREAT HUNTS .... 22 
4 Vols, in a neat box, $6. 



^T" Any or all the volumes of the Illustrated Library of Wonders sent to any 
address, post or express charges paid, on receipt of the pnc?. 

Jt descriptive Catalogue of the Wonder Library, with specimen illustrations, sent 
to nny a'i<I-ess on af'flicati/)n. 



h NEW AND VALUABLE SERIES 
For Readers of all Age s and for the Sch ool and Family Library. 

OF 

TRAVEL, EXPLORATION, 

AND ADVENTURE. 

EDITED BY 

BAYA RD TAY LOR. 

The extraordinary popularity of the Illustrated Library of Wonders (nearly one 
and a half million copies having been sold in this country and in France) is considered bv 
tlie publishers a sufficient guarantee of the success of an Illustrated Library of Traviu- 
ExPLORATlON, AND ADVENTURE, embracing the same decidedly interesting and permanently 
valuable features. Upon this new enterprise Charles Scribner & Co. will bring to bear 
all their wide and constantly increasing resources. Neither pains nor expense will be spared 
in making their new Library not only one of the most elegandy and profusely illustrated 
works of the day, but aX the same time one of the most graphic and fascinating in narrative 
and description. 

Each volume will be complete in itself, and will contain, first, a brief preliminary sketch 
of the country to which it is devoted ; next, such an outline of previous explorations as may 
be neoissary to explain what has been achieved by later ones ; and finally, a condensation 
of one or more of the most important narratives of recent travel, accompanied with illustra- 
tions of the scenery, architecture, and life of the races, drawn only from the most authentic 
sources. An occasional volume will also be introduced in the Library, detaaing the exploits 
of individual adventurers. The entire series will thus furnish a clear, picturesque, and prac- 
tical survey of our present knowledge of lands and races as supplied by the accounts ol 
travellers and explorers. The Library will therefore be both entertaining and instructive 
to young as well as old, and the publishers intend to make it a necessity in every family ot 
culture and in eveiy private and public library in America. The name of Bayard Taylob 
as editor is an assurance of the accuracy and high literary character of the publication. 

TWO VOLUMES NOW READY. 



JAPAN 



Illustrated with- a Finely Engraved Map, and more than 30 Beautiful Wood-cuts. 

WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS. 

By Lieut.-Col. GORDON GUMMING. 



The following volumes are also well advanced, and will be issued at about monthly 
intervals. 

ARABIA, SOUTH AFRICA. 

The volumes will be uniform in size (i2mo), and also in price (f 1.50 each). 
^^" Cotalogues, wtih specimen illustrations, sent on application. 



